Ross Lidbetter  

ross.lidbetter@essnmedia.co.uk

A MAN fears his bathroom and kitchen could be about to collapse after giant cracks appeared in his Thornton Heath home.

Leonard Moore is desperate for repair work to be carried out and is growing increasingly concerned that he will have to move out of the property in Burlington Road.

He says he can see daylight through one of the cracks, which stretch across the ceiling and a wall of his kitchen.

Mr Moore's council maisonette underwent major refurbishment in February last year, which included fitting a new kitchen and bathroom.

But the work involved taking down a major structural wall between the two rooms.

Mr Moore, who lives on the first floor, explained: "About two or three months afterwards cracks started to appear in the kitchen.

"They (the council's contractor) sent somebody round and they were filled."

While these repaired cracks were minor, nothing prepared Mr Moore for the site that greeted him about six weeks ago.

He said: "The cracks started appearing again in the kitchen, but this time they were getting bigger and bigger. Some are now a quarter of an inch wide.

"The council haven't sent anybody round to repair them and I don't know whether they're waiting for everything to collapse and then get me out of here.

"It's just going to fall apart eventually."

The 75-year-old has been at the property since 1998 and lives on his own. As he is settled in the area, his biggest fear is that he will have to move elsewhere.

He said: "I don't want to leave because I've got friends around here. All I want is somebody to come round and repair it."

A spokesman for Croydon Council said: "There is a problem and we have sent structural engineers to identify the cause.

"However, we do know that the problem is unlikely to have been caused by the work carried out to improve the home last year.

"Mr Moore can rest assured that as a responsible landlord we will put it right."