Council tenant’s fury at possible asbestos risk

A South Leamington man fears he and his family may have received a “death sentence” after asbestos was found in their flat - and then not removed for a further two years.



David Haycock, 39, of Christine Ledger Square, is seeking reassurance that his family – and other residents in the ten-storey block – have not been exposed to the deadly fibres.

Warwick District Council says asbestos was found in the block in 2010, but the risk was assessed as ‘medium’.

It has, however, decided this week to remove it and put Mr Haycock’s family up in a hotel.

Mr Haycock overheard workmen discussing the asbestos when the kitchen and bathroom in his council flat were refitted in 2010. When he saw a van belonging to contractors removing asbestos from another flat some weeks ago he became concerned about the material in his own home.

Warwick District Council has now put Mr Haycock up in a hotel while the asbestos is removed, but he did not hide his fury at officials and councillors.

He said: “I’m absolutely livid. I just want to get out of here because if we’ve been breathing asbestos we’ve been given a death sentence.”

Mr Haycock, 39, a senior care officer at The Lawns care home in Whitnash, has lived in the block off Brunswick Street since 2004.

The asbestos has been sawn in the past and Mr Haycock believes the council should have removed the potentially deadly material sooner. He has made a Freedom of Information request to see the authority’s records.

Decaying asbestos can cause fatal lung cancer, and he is worried he, his partner and their three-year-old son Tiger Taylor may have breathed it in.

And with five flats on each of its ten floors. Mr Haycock hopes others in Christine Ledger Square have not been affected.

He added: “It’s a case of hoping and praying the ventilation system has adequate filtering. You never know unless you get some sort of asbestos cancer in the future. My concern that if it was done in this flat, has it been done in all of them.”

A district council spokesman said the authority is conducting routine works and inspections to the service ducts in the main shafts at Christine Ledger Square flats, adding: “Asbestos is an extremely common material used in the construction of buildings from the 1940s to the 1970s. In good condition, it presents no safety or health risks and it is the council’s duty to ensure the location and condition of any asbestos is recorded.

“Where asbestos is found to be in a condition which is deteriorating or presents a potential risk, then removal would be undertaken in a managed and safe way. This is the case with a small number of flats within the main block at Christine Ledger Square.

“Under our new policy we are now removing asbestos and reducing its risk before the property becomes empty, which was the course of action we have undertaken in the property concerned.

“We have also completed an air test, which found no asbestos fibres.”