Frustration for resident as wall felled in storm takes months to repair

A St Neots man was left frustrated after it took a housing provider more than two months to repair his “dangerous” garden wall, after it collapsed onto a footpath in high winds.

Peter Horner, of Duck Lane, found his brick wall ripped down by storm-force winds and lying in the path of walkers, including mothers and their prams, at the beginning of March.

But, despite contacting housing provider Luminus, he says little work was done for more than eight weeks to clear it up.

“The wind pulled the lot over,” he said. “People have been throwing rubbish in there and I cannot get to my back gate – I can’t do anything.

“I rang Luminus and reported it and, after 10 days, no one had been down and it was still there,” he added.

“I rang them again and told them it had come across the footpath and they said they would treat it as an urgency.”

Mr Horner said he explained the wall was dangerous, but when workmen came out they only put a plastic orange fence around the rubble.

Mr Horner added that he did not hear from the housing provider again for weeks afterwards, while the wall remained in pieces on the path.

To add to his frustrations, a neighbours’ wall was also brought down in the bad weather, and the private owners were able to get it replaced the following day.

A spokesman for Luminus said: “On March 6, Luminus was informed that due to severe weather, a garden wall in Duck Lane had been damaged. Luminus prioritised this as an emergency and acted quickly to make the wall safe. A contractor has since

been appointed and has made contact with the resident.”

The spokesman added that the wall was due to have been repaired by May 12.