Gwersyllt woman is at the end of her tether with dusty mess left constantly by builders

Emma Pritchard, who lives with her partner and young son in Bryn Awel Court on Second Avenue, has complained on multiple occasions about the constant state of the communal hall area outside her flat she says council workers have left dusty during a period of renovation.

She told the Leader how she has been trying to get the issue resolved for months now – since October - but the plaster dust continues to be a problem for the whole family.

Pictures shared with the Leader from November that give examples of the level of dust causing Emma and her family problems. Images by Emma Pritchard

She said: “I've begged and pleaded with the workers on the site, as well as the housing office, but nothing has worked.

"The hallway outside our flat is a constant state and its seeping under the doorway and inside our home which I have to clean pretty much every day I’m at the end of my tether with it all now and really don’t know where else to go with this.

“I spoke with the workers on multiple occasions since they have been here and I think they misunderstood my issue at first. They did clean the floor just once and have since put black sheets everywhere now – which makes the dust stand out even more – in an effort to protect the floors. My issue is what the dust is doing to our health.”

Ms Pritchard and her partner have since resorted to cleaning up the hallway themselves when workers leave but – as they are both asthmatic – moving the dust has triggered health problems such as chest infections.

She continued: “I’m worried about what this dust is doing to my baby as well. Whenever we take him out of the flat I have him covered over in the pram so he doesn’t breathe anything in. Sometimes when we open our front door we are met with a wall of dust.”

Images shared with the Leader by Ms Pritchard show the hallway, steps leading to her flat and the property’s front door area covered in plaster dust – highlighted more so by the black plastic tarps on the floor.

She also shared an image of a dusty mop and bucket left in the communal areas which she claims that workers have used just once to clean the floors before covering it up with the sheets.

A Wrexham Council spokesman said: “We have been refurbishing the flats in this block in line with our standards and number 22 was the first to be finished and allocated.

"The other 3 are still under refurbishment and this work will inevitably cause some dust and disruption. However, we are trying to keep this to a minimum and can confirm that the communal areas are cleaned throughout the day and at the end of each day. We have also commissioned a cleaning company to attend every other day to complete a thorough clean of the area.

The spokesman added that the black floor covering is to "protect the floor from damage due to the amount of traffic going back and forth and this does show up footmarks etc."

The spokesman continued: "We have a number of months’ worth of work remaining here and inevitably there will be some disruption whilst the work continues to bring the remaining properties up to the standard this tenant’s flat is currently at when they will be re let to customers on the waiting list.

"We will endeavour to communicate with our tenant throughout the construction works and to maintain the communal area wherever possible, in line with her aspirations."