Milton Keynes man has been living in flat dripping with raw sewage for three years

Matthew Lake has complained numerous times to his housing association landlords at the Guinness Partnership.

He has accused them of failing to take action to repair the leak, causing his CMK flat to be a health and hygiene hazard.

“It’s been hell,” said Matthew, who is 40 and lives in North Ninth Street. “Sewage from the toilet of the privately-owned flat upstairs comes through my ceiling, drips into my kitchen cupboards and all over my food.

“I’ve been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and I’ve suffered recurring stomach and bowel infections. I’m sure it’s because I’m living in sewage.”

Last week Guinness sent a specialist crew to clean the flat - but still nothing was done to repair the cause of the problem.

“I’ve tried to clean it myself, but as fast as you scrub and bleach it, more sewage appears,” said Matthew.

The problem is that the flat above is privately-owned and the housing association have no power to enter it.

Last October there was such a huge leak that Matthew’ had to call the fire service to help bail the flat out.

“Water and sewage was everywhere. It was disgusting. We had to use buckets to bail it all out”,” he said.

Guinness Partnership bosses have apologised for not ensuring the work on Matthew’s flat was not carried out “as quickly as it should have been.”

A spokesman said: “When this issue first arose, we agreed to carry out repairs to Mr Lake’s property after a leak from the privately leased flat above. However, we were unable to arrange a date with Mr Lake for the repairs.”

The spokesman added: “We are now in touch with Mr Lake and we will carry out the necessary work to his flat as soon as possible once a deep clean of the property has been completed.”

Meanwhile MK Council has inspected the flat. Their officers are helping Guinness by contacting the private tenant living above Mr Lake in a bid to get the problem solved.

“We are grateful for the help of the council,” said the Guinness spokesman.

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