Row continues over linen line ban at Norwich flats

Sleaford Green resident, Margaret Jowsey, is angry that Norwich City Council have told her she can't have a washing line outside her flat. Picture: ANTONY KELLY (Image: Archant Norfolk 2017)

Margaret Jowsey, 73, has lived in her third floor flat in Sleaford Green since 1989 and was first told to take the washing line in the communal area down in 2014.

Norwich City Council told her the line posed a health and safety hazard and that the fire service warned it posed a safety risk.

Mrs Jowsey hit back at the claim as she said only her, two neighbours and the postman use the area - and her neighbours wanted the line to stay too.

But the council said the line still had to go, and provided washing lines outside on the ground floor.

Now, Mrs Jowsey has sent a letter to the council with the hope she would be allowed to have a retractable line instead.

'I'm 73 so taking linen down three flights of stairs and back could be dangerous,' she said.

'We're not in the way of anybody.'

She said another option would be to put an airer outside in the same place, but that would cause problems for drying sheets.

'If you dry linen indoors it's a health and safety risk, and you have the risk of mould and damp,' she added.

Previously Mrs Jowsey's neighbour, Sylwia Dycha added: 'I don't agree with taking down the line. What can we do now? I have two children and a lot of clothes. If I put them inside my home there will be a lot of mould.'

A spokesman for Norwich City Council said their position remained unchanged. They said: 'There has been considerable consultation with residents in the area about options for drying washing.

'As a result, we have provided facilities for residents to hang out washing at the rear of the properties, but we have asked that washing is not hung out in the internal communal areas where it can cause an obstruction. This is not an issue for the majority of residents at Sleaford Green.'