A great-grandmother has been left with no bath or shower for months after delays in repairs following a flood caused by a neighbour’s pipework which wrecked her bathroom.

Yvonne Eaton’s home in Wallis Avenue, Park Wood, Maidstone, flooded for the second time in April.

The 72-year-old lives on the ground floor of a block of maisonettes and it was pipes to the home upstairs which burst, leaving her bathroom unusable.

She contacted her letting agent, Sandersons UK, which began an insurance claim to repair the damage.

The bath and shower had to be ripped out to access the pipes and Yvonne was advised her home, which she has been privately renting for four years, would be uninhabitable while works were completed.

The pensioner, who cannot climb stairs due to her COPD, which causes breathing difficulties, slept on her daughter’s sofa for two months.

In the absence of any affordable temporary accommodation, Yvonne informed Sandersons UK she needed to move back in.

Three months after the flood, Yvonne returned to her flat to find the bathtub still leaning against a wall.

The former carer said: “I have never been or had a problem but now I have been left with this.

“All I want is to have a simple bath and shower but I cannot do this because the bath is standing up straight, looking at me in the bathroom.

“I am so angry about what they are doing to me. I do not want to shout and ask for help but I cannot get an answer.

“I think it is unfair, why should I have to do this? I have been here for four years, and I have always paid my rent on time.”

“I can understand Yvonne’s upset as there have been significant delays in repairing the damage caused by the leak…”

She said she now has to pack a case every other day and travel to her daughter’s in Bower Street, Maidstone, which is a 20-minute drive away to be able to wash.

Yvonne, who is originally from South Africa, still paid £775 a month to rent the downstairs property in Wallis Avenue, when she moved out and has continued to fork out the sum despite not having a working bathroom.

However, the head of property management at Sandersons UK, Robin Cowley, said she was welcome to stop paying due to the delays which he said had been caused by the leak detection specialists, Polygon.

He added: “I can understand Yvonne’s upset as there have been significant delays in repairing the damage caused by the leak.

“Unfortunately, we are waiting on the insurer to give us permission to refit the bathroom, which is itself being held up by Polygon re-attending to sign off on the drying.

“I would note that Polygon are more than four weeks past the date on which they said they would attend.

“When the refit work can begin, Yvonne will be given alternative accommodation.”

Yvonne, who has eight great-grandchildren, has since requested the firm issue her with a Section 21 - a no-fault eviction notice - so that the local council can assist her with housing as her contract on the flat expires in August and is not being renewed.

KentOnline has made multiple attempts to contact Polygon to comment on the delays but has not received a response.