Scaffolder blocks tenants' windows in stand-off with landlord
Scaffolder Michael Black (inset), who blocked residents' windows in a dispute with landlords - Credit: Michael Black/ Submitted
A scaffolder hung sheeting in front of windows to block residents' views as part of a "spaghetti Western" stand-off with landlords over an alleged £4,600 unpaid bill.
One of the tenants of the apartments in Great Yarmouth said they could "hardly blame" Michael Black for resorting to drastic action after he said he had waited five months to be paid for putting up scaffolding last October.
Mr Black, 50, from Yarmouth, who owns KB Scaffolding (KBS), said the saga which unfolded at the block of flats on Sandown Road was "entirely avoidable".
The dispute centred around a payment allegedly owed by the building's landlords, Dr Saffana Rasul and Akeela Ahmed, to KBS over the emergency scaffolding.
KB Scaffolding resorted to "drastic action" to recover the money they were owed - Credit: Submitted
After five months of his invoice going unpaid, Mr Black and his team, for whom a loss of £4,600 was a "huge kick in the teeth", re-erected the scaffolding and hung up sheets to block residents' windows.
Both landlords have been contacted and declined to comment.
The scaffolding went up on Friday, March 12, and was removed after Mr Black received payment on Tuesday afternoon, March 16.
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According to one tenant, who first contacted this newspaper last Friday, residents "do not blame KBS" for the debacle.
He said: "When we saw them putting scaffolding up we did panic a little.
"We were told by the letting agent the night before there was a chance the scaffolders would block us in entirely and we might not be able to get out.
"Turns out it was nowhere near that extreme, but residents on the first floor still couldn't see out of their windows for five days."
The drama centred around properties co-owned by the landlords on Sandown Road in Great Yarmouth - Credit: Google
He went on: "I don't blame the scaffolders. They wanted their payment. A few people were stressed out by the situation but most of us totally understood why they were doing it."
Mr Black said: "When they finally paid me they said I had to withdraw any involvement with the press. It turned into a spaghetti Western. It's awful for the residents who got caught in the crossfire, but we had no choice. The whole thing was entirely avoidable."
