Harold Hill family tested for deadly virus after six-month sewage leak

Sinead Keavey, 27, and her daughter Levi, seven, and autistic son Lee, five, were tested for Weil’s disease – usually contracted from water contaminated with rat or animal urine – after being urged to do so by a friend who works with raw sewage.

All three tests came back negative.

Sinead, who lives in a flat in Hilldene Avenue, said she first noticed sewage seeping through the ceiling in October.

She said she believed it was caused by a problem with the sewerage pipes from the flat above.

She contacted Homes in Havering (HiH) but HiH said it was unable to fix the problem because it could not get access to the home above.

“There is raw sewage coming through the front of my door and it drips on you,” she said. “More sewage comes through every time they flush the toilet. It stinks of urine and faeces.

“Fungus has started to grow through the bedroom and I can’t sleep in there anymore.”

She said she is concerned for the health of her family and added that she believes her son’s asthma has got worse over the past few months.

She added that HiH had only offered her another two-bedroom property earlier this month, but she declined it as her son cannot share a room with her daughter because of his outbursts.

A HiH spokesman said: “We are aware of the ongoing issues at Miss Keavey’s property and are taking urgent action to address them.

“The leak is coming from a neighbouring property but after several attempts we have been unable to gain access to complete the repair.

Apologies

“We have offered Miss Keavey and her family temporary accommodation while we deal with the problem but she has declined.

“We will continue to work with Miss Keavey and her neighbours to bring this to a swift and speedy conclusion.

“We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Miss Keavey and her family and we would like reassure her that will do everything we can to put things right.”