Tullibody Clackmannanshire Council tenant claims his gutter is still to be repaired - a year after he originally raised the issue

Clackmannanshire Council tenant Gibson Boyd, 70, spoke to the Advertiser about the ongoing saga and claimed he first contacted the repairs team about his dripping gutters around a year ago, but the job is still to be done properly.

He said the gutters around the house are leaking and dripping at three points, into his downstairs neighbour's potted plants and garden, making large puddles and causing a nuisance in general.

Mr Boyd explained: “At the beginning there last year, right at the beginning, [the gutter] was dripping at three bits – at the kitchen window, at the corner and along at the door.

“It was raining quite hard; the one at the corner – you could stand there and have a shower with it, it's no real.

“Last year, [the neighbour downstairs] phoned the council and they came out one day – this big guy and a young boy.

“They said: 'Mr Boyd, I'm here to tell you that we are coming tomorrow, I've got a job on the now, and we are coming tomorrow'.

“I'm still waiting”, he told the Advertiser a few weeks ago.

“It's not real, I was expecting them to come out the next day, because he did say it.”

He said he had been in touch with the council countless times to get his issue sorted. He also visited the SNP Constituency Office of MSP Keith Brown and MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh for help.

In a reply to Mr Brown's enquiry, a council employee said that Mr Boyd advised the council's repairs centre regarding the gutters on September 25 last year and that a repairs team would sort the issue early March.

But Mr Boyd claims he and his downstairs neighbour have contacted the council months before that. Reacting, he said: “That's lies like, you know. Ken what I mean?

“That wasn't the only time that I've phoned them. I phoned them before that, because they came out and sorted two [gutters]. I was sick phoning them.”

A repairs team has since been out this month, but angry Mr Boyd says the issue is still to be fixed.

He claimed those carrying out the repairs have only been putting bolts and washers in, botching the job, saying: “I don't want them to come and put a bolt, [nut], and a washer in it, a rubber washer, because that's what they do.

“They come and put a rubber washer in – how many bolts are up through there? I want a new gutter right around.”

One of the other issues he had was that the workmen would never ask him what exactly the problem was. He had called the council to get a phone number to the repairs team to explain the problems directly, but was left in disbelief when he was told they do not have phones.

He explained: “Honest to God, they said he does not have a phone. So, my point is; how do they contact them? How do they ken who's out there doing the work?

“God strike me down now, I'm not telling lies.

“How do they contact them? The guy's not got a phone... how's he not got a phone? Can he not afford it? Why does the council not get them a phone then?

“Why no come to me? Why no chap at the door and ask me what they are to do?”

Responding on behalf of Clackmannanshire Council in mid-March, housing convener councillor Les Sharp said: "When carrying out repairs to tenants' properties we consider several factors in order to prioritise work.

“Factors that we take into account are health and safety of tenants, conditions of property, security and value for money, so for example, we would prioritise a blocked toilet over a dripping gutter.

"We have apologised to Mr Boyd for the mistake that was made in November. The gutter was repaired last week."

The Advertiser asked the council specifically if the repair teams had phones, but received no answer.

Reacting to councillor Les Sharp's reply, Mr Boyd said: “So what about [the phone calls] last year? What about that one? Nae response?

“Honest to God, that makes me angry.”

It is understood a repairs team will be back at his house again next week.