Fed up flat owner Victoria Lay has been left with a massive repair bill by a nuisance neighbour who flooded out her home.

Victoria Lay at her flat, which was damaged by flood water from the property above

Victoria, 31, of Rowntree Avenue, York, said the woman neighbour, who lived in the council flat above, had caused damage to nearly every room in her ground-floor flat.

And she complained that the City of York Council's insurers would not pay for any of the damage despite a catalogue of complaints about the tenant.

Victoria said most of the damage had been caused in three incidents.

Two of them were floods - the first involved the neighbour letting her bath overflow and the second was caused when she plumbed in her own washing machine.

On the third occasion, the neighbour had climbed on her porch roof to get to her upstairs flat because she had forgotten her key, damaging the roof tiles.

Victoria said: "Ever since she moved in I had nothing but trouble. The walls in my bedroom and front room are disgusting. Bits of the ceiling in my kitchen came down, I had to replace my fridge and washing machine - it was like Niagara Falls.

"The tiles are coming away from the wall in the bathroom and I can't use my shower because the wiring is burnt out." She said the council's insurers had told her that they were not liable for what the neighbour had done, but she believed the council bore some responsibility because they had not evicted her despite several complaints.

She said repair work to the kitchen and porch alone would cost between £6,500 and £10,500, according to quotes she had received. The tenancy of the upstairs flat ended in July.

Tom Brittain, housing manager at the City of York Council, said that on both occasions of the flooding the council had investigated and found they were not due to council negligence.

"We do not have responsibility for plumbing in washing machines and we do not have responsibility for filling the bath," he said.

He said the council had investigated all complaints about the neighbour.

"They hadn't reached a stage where we would have taken legal action. There has got to be a clear and regular pattern of nuisance. It might have been considered had she stayed at the property. We did put pressure on the tenant to terminate the tenancy.

"It's unfortunate, but if a tenant causes flooding to the downstairs property then it is unlikely that our insurance company would compensate."

The nuisance neighbour is no longer living in the area.

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