A MAN has hit out at West Dunbartonshire Council for leaving his 80-year-old friend to 'live in squalor'.

80-year-old Alexander Berry, who lives in Clydebank, contacted the council on May 20 to report that his toilet was backing up with sewage and could not be cleared.

However, according to his friend Martyn Guilfoyle, this job was raised at the wrong address and nobody turned up to fix the problem - leaving Mr Berry with raw sewage flooding into his house.

Martyn told the Post: "When the council found out about the address error they had made, and then corrected it, they sent a worker with a suction machine to remove the sewage.

"However, by this point the sewage was at such a level that Alex had to manually try and remove it using buckets. This was the case over the whole weekend of May 22-23.

"Alex has suffered from health issues and been hospitalised in the past with heart problems, he is an 80 year old man who lives alone and should not be getting put under this amount of pressure.

"Raw sewage from numerous flats has been pouring into his house which he has had no other choice but to try and clean on his own - a major health concern in itself.

"His flooring, carpets, bath and hall are now in complete ruination due to this situation and he is now relying on friends who have taken him in, as his home is in no fit state for human habitation.

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"They have finally carried out the required repairs but not in the timescales they have quoted. It took over a week which is why his house is now in the state it’s in."

A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Council said: "We are sorry this resident is unhappy with the service he received.

"We attended at this property 24 hours after the issue was reported to us and arranged for specialist contractors to carry out drainage works within the building.

"This has now been completed and we are continuing to liaise with the resident to offer him support and advice."