‘WE’VE HAD TO LIVE IN 6 HOTELS IN 10 WEEKS’

‘Nobody wants to help’ says tenant forced from fire-hit flats

TENANTS are demanding answers – after being stuck living in up to six hotels for the past 10 weeks.

They were evacuated after a fire at Tollgate Court, in Blurton, claimed the life of a 40-year-old woman.

But they have never returned since the April 6 blaze and one tenant has been left living in six different hotels.

It leaves her having to fend for herself and pay for all her food and drink.

The 23-year-old civil servant said: “We only knew there was a fire because someone broke into the building to tell us.

“We then got kicked out in our pyjamas and they haven’t let us go back there since. My partner was there at the time of the fire.

“We were scared and trapped in the corridor with smoke coming towards us, we didn’t know how to get out. Eventually I had to cover my face with my dressing gown and I just ran out of the building, it was a frightening experience for everyone.

“We are all separated and in different hotels. We have been living in hotels for nearly 10 weeks and have been in about six different hotels.

“They keep expecting us to pack our life up and move. We don’t have any cooking facilities and don’t get any help with the cost of food – not one person can afford to eat out three times a day.”

The resident added: “I don’t know if any of my belongings got damaged because I’ve not been back in the flat since April 6. It’s horrendous and the most disgusting situation and I feel like nobody wants to help.

“I don’t understand where we are supposed to go to get help when something like this happens. I’m grateful for the council putting us up but they haven’t considered your mental health when you are living in one room and can’t cook food.

“We want action from anyone who can do something.

“We don’t even get phone calls to tell us when the flats are going to be ready for us to move back into. We are just stranded in a hotel and have no idea what’s going on.

“The landlord is private. The director of the freehold told us we would be back in our flats by the end of May but it’s now June.”