AN OAP couple’s home has been completely destroyed after their neighbour’s cannabis-filled flat caught fire – and they’ve been living in a car ever since.
Sue Clarke, 71, and her partner Alan Connolly, 66, were terrifyingly woken five weeks ago to the property above them in flames after having previously complained about the drug farm.
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As they stood by and helplessly watched fire crews tackle the blaze for two-and-a-half-hours, water flooded out their home and made it unlivable.
The couple, from Potters Bar, Herts., claim they’ve had zero help from their estate agent or local council for over a month and have relied on family to sofa-surf.
Retired office worker Sue told The Sun if a friend or loved one’s home isn’t big enough for the both of them, Alan resorts to sleeping in the car.
She said: “It’s five weeks today, and we’ve still not been offered a place, even in a hostel.
“We’ve rung and my partner hasn’t stopped trying to get us a place to stay.
We lost everything. It’s terrible. I’m just living day-to-day out of bags
Sue Clarke
“I’ve been sleeping on sofas and my partner has mainly been sleeping in the car.
“And when he told the council that sometimes people offer their settees to us, they said ‘Oh so you’re not homeless now then’ and haven’t tried to find us anywhere since.
“We’re both old age pensioners, and the council is supposed to offer you something when you’re homeless through no fault of your own.
“We should be given somewhere to live. We’re homeless.
“I feel like a burden on my kids. I’m doing all their washing, making them dinner and their housework as a thank you.”
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Sue and Alan’s home is part of a block of six flats above a Nisa Local shop.
Shocking images from inside the once-humble abode show mounds of plaster, that has been soaked off the walls, in a pile on the floor.
Holes have started to form in the ceiling – with Sue expecting it to cave in any day now.
And mould has already started to form on paintings she was forced to leave behind.
The balcony is covered in thick black rubble and burn marks as flamed remnants from above fell onto their property.
Windows and doors have been boarded up with water shadows still on the majority of walls where they’re still damp some weeks later.
Sue added: “Everything was drenched because it took two-and-a-half-hours to put the fire out.
“Their ceiling collapsed onto their floor, which is our ceiling, so it’s going to be falling in soon. It’s awful in there.”
LANDLORD WITHOUT INSURANCE
As Sue recalls the moment Alan shook her awake the terrifying night, she told how they’ve lost everything and are now living day-to-day out of bin bags.
She said: “I was in bed. My partner came in shaking, saying, ‘There’s a fire in the flat above us. Get up, get out! get up!’.
“So there were loads of people outside, all shouting, but nobody had called the fire brigade, so my partner called the fire brigade, and there was lots of smoke.
“At first we couldn’t even see the flames. We didn’t know what was happening.
“The people above our flat were growing cannabis. About three weeks previously, we had water coming through the ceilings.
“All the cannabis smell came through the walls onto everything I own. All my clothes. Everything, everything.
“We lost everything. It’s terrible, and I don’t know where any of my things are. I’m just living day-to-day out of bags.”
According to Sue, her landlady does not have insurance and simply told Maloney’s estate agents, who she rents the flat out with, ‘Tell them I’m sorry’.
“She’s not even contacted us,” Sue raged.
“But she said to the estate agents ‘Just tell them I’m sorry’.
“We told the estate agent [about the cannabis weeks ago] and we had to go up there in the end. They didn’t do anything.”
Hertfordshire Police said: “Officers are still appealing for information in relation to an incident in Station Road, Cuffley which occurred between 11pm, and 11.14pm on Wednesday 21 August.
Detectives believe the fire could have been started deliberately in the flat, which was completely destroyed in the blaze, and are treating the incident as arson.”
Anyone with information can report it online, talk to an officer via web chat, or call 101 quoting 41/69773/24.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Maloney’s estate agents was contacted for comment.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council was also contacted.
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