Disabled woman forced to shower outside for weeks after her bathroom rotted

Rebecca Royston, 34, from Nottingham, was forced to shower outside for six weeks while waiting for her bathroom to be repaired. 

Rebecca has a rare inherited disorder which means she doesn’t have a kneecap and she is also partially paralysed by a tumour in her spinal cord.

Despite her underlying mobility issues, she was left without an accessible bathroom in her council house for weeks since August 31.

A leak had caused her bathroom floor to rot in her home on Morris Road, Strelley, leaving her only with a makeshift bathroom outside. 

Rebecca tried contacting the city council to try to speed up the urgently needed repair, but she had eight appointments cancelled shortly before they were supposed to take place.

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The 34-year-old who lives with her husband and three children, had nowhere else to shower, with the situation putting the family under emotional and financial strain. 

She told NottinghamshireLive: “The plywood floor of the wet room had rotted away and they came out and ripped up the flooring but didn’t get any further. 

“They tried to fix it so many times but always cancelled just before I rang to check – I was beginning to think it would never be fixed.

“I am being ignored because every time I am promised a fix it gets cancelled just before and I only find out when I call up. 

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“It’s not like I can have a bath as it is a wet room and it is the floor itself that has gone, so you would think it would be an urgent repair.

“It was more than six weeks without a proper working bathroom, and I have been paying rent all that time. 

“I’m having to put my hot water on for hours so my kids can shower outside in a makeshift shower we set up, which has cost a lot of money.”

Nottingham City Council has now apologised to the woman and explained the fix would finally be carried out on Wednesday, October 18. 

It attributed the long wait to a member of staff who did not follow procedures correctly.

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “We are addressing the issues that have arisen in this case with an individual member of staff who failed to follow procedures correctly, resulting in the work not being completed as quickly as it should have been.

“We have assigned a service manager to liaise with Mrs Royston, to help make sure that this issue is fixed as soon as possible. 

“We’re aiming to have the repair fully completed on Wednesday October 18. We are also seeking to compensate Mrs Royston and her family for the inconvenience caused.”

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