A couple received a visit to “make sure you’re not pulling the wool over the council’s eyes” after they reported rain water “gushing” through their collapsed ceiling.

%image(14546447, type="article-full", alt="A Norwich couple living at Cardigan Place were left "disgusted" by Norwich City Council's response after their living room ceiling collapsed. Picture: Billie-Jo Beverley")

Kierron Rose and his partner, Billie-Jo Beverley, said they were “disgusted” with how they were treated by Norwich City Council.

Their catalogue of problems began on Friday (September 25) as heavy rain lashed onto their bungalow at Cardigan Place, where they live with their young children.

Water was soon leaking through the ceiling and they reported the issue to their landlord, the city council.

“The council just didn’t seem interested,” said Mr Rose, who works as a multi-trader.

%image(14546448, type="article-full", alt="Kierron Rose, who lives at Cardigan Place, Norwich, says Norwich City Council's response after their living room ceiling collapsed was "unacceptable". Picture: Billie-Jo Beverley")

“They said they’d send someone between 2 and 8pm, bearing in mind the floor is soaked, the towels we’ve put down are drenched and the buckets are full. Water is literally gushing in and then the ceiling started falling through.”

By 10pm, no-one from the council had arrived to examine the issue, and a further call revealed the couple would not receive a visit until the next day.

“They were just rude and unhelpful,” added Mr Rose, 28. “One person said ‘can’t you move out?’ With everything that’s going on, there was nowhere to go.

“Eventually on the Saturday they sent a locksmith because he was the only person available. He said he’d been sent to ‘make sure you’re not pulling the wool over our eyes’. I was basically called a liar and that was the final straw.”

%image(14546449, type="article-full", alt="A Norwich couple's ceiling was finally fixed after it collapsed due to the impact of heavy rain. Picture: Billie-Jo Beverley")

Finally, on Monday, the ceiling was temporarily fixed - but will not be properly repaired for another three weeks. Mr Rose added: “I said ‘what shall I do in the meantime - get some more buckets?’

“I can’t fault the guys who did the job, but how we were treated over the weekend was unacceptable. I can deal with the ceiling falling through - these things happen. What I can’t deal with is a lack of respect and being spoken to like dirt.”

A spokesman for Norwich City Council said: “We’ve been in contact with our tenant, Billie-Jo, throughout this to resolve any problems with her property.

“That will continue as we work with our contractors to identify any issues so we can put them right.

%image(14546450, type="article-full", alt="Kierron Rose, who lives with his family at Cardigan Place, Norwich, says the city council's response after their living room ceiling collapsed was "unacceptable". Picture: Billie-Jo Beverley")

“As always with our tenants, they will be the first to know when we’ve got any updates from our contractors and then we can move forward with booking in the work.”