Family of seven forced to use bucket in their porch as a toilet after being left without bathroom in Milton Keynes council house

They even rigged up a makeshift shower in their porch
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A family of seven was forced to use their porch as a makeshift toilet and bathroom because of an alleged catalogue of errors by council sub contractors.

Mohammed Shad, his pregnant wife and their five children spent weeks 'showering' with a bucket of water in their porch, which they screened off with shower curtains.

Left with no working bath or shower, they even faced one entire weekend with both toilets disconnected in their Springfield house.

The family had to use a makeshift bathroom in the porch when they were left without a toiletThe family had to use a makeshift bathroom in the porch when they were left without a toilet
The family had to use a makeshift bathroom in the porch when they were left without a toilet

"We had to use another bucket in the porch to go to the toilet. We put up shower curtains around it to give us some privacy," said 52-year-old Mohammed.

"It was horrible. There are seven of us in the house and our eldest child is 21," he said.

"When my daughters were bathing, my son had to stand outside on the pavement to make sure no-one was looking."

To make matters worse, Mohammed's wife Saima, who is 49, is in early pregnancy with their sixth child.

They screened of the porch with curtains and a piece of fencing to give privacyThey screened of the porch with curtains and a piece of fencing to give privacy
They screened of the porch with curtains and a piece of fencing to give privacy

"It was a very unexpected pregnancy. She's been told to rest and take it very easy, but that just isn't happening because of all the problems with our bathroom. It's been so stressful," he said.

The saga started when MK Council informed the Shads that their four bedroom house in Turnmill Avenue was due a bathroom upgrade from contractors Mears.

But Mears sub-contracted the work out to another firm - and the problems started almost as soon as they began the job.

"Everything went wrong," alleges Mohammed.

"It was one problem after another. For two weeks we had no working shower or bath and for a full weekend, Friday to Monday, we were unable to use either of the toilets in the house - the one in the main bathroom and the one in the downstairs cloakroom.

"We had no choice but to but shower curtains up in the porch and use buckets."

He said Mears are meant to inspect work regularly when they sub contract it.

"They were so busy that they didn't come out once to inspect. We've complained to MK Council and Mears about it."

This week the work is finally finished. But the Shads, who paid for many of their own fittings so they could have the bathroom of their dreams, are still far from happy.

"The tiles are not straight, the work is not done well and today we've had a leak. We want something to be done," said Mohammed.

A spokesman for Mears has promised a full enquiry and offered an apology to the family.

"We are very sorry to hear about Mr Shad's experience and we will investigate what has happened here thoroughly," a Mears spokesman told The MK Citizen.

"We hold all of our contractors to a very high standard and will be ensuring that this situation will be resolved for the Shad family as quickly as possible."

The Citizen contacted MK Council for a comment and are awaiting a response.