Woman says Littlehampton home is ‘living hell’

Sixty-nine-year-old Margaret Antony moved into sheltered accommodation at Wickbourne House, Clun Road, Wick, to be closer her home town of Worthing, in April.

However, since then, Margaret says she has been subjected to a tirade of abuse and finds herself living in conditions that she describes as “squalid at best”.

Margaret said: “The place is disgraceful. I’m sure it wasn’t cleaned before I got here. There’s black mould all over the walls, there were pieces of old food everywhere and urine stains on the bathroom floor.

“It’s just not fit for any human to live in, let alone someone of my age.”

“During the first few days of being here I had a group of yobs smash my window. They’re always shouting and banging on the walls outside. I’m now too scared to walk my dog at night.”

Margaret has spoken to the police, who have assured her they are doing everything in their power to combat anti-social behaviour in Wick.

A former nurse in Worthing, she claims that she was never informed about the level of anti-social behaviour in Wick and feels that Arun District Council should have made her more aware of the area she was moving into.

She also suggests that she was not given enough time to look around the bedsit.

However, Arun told the Gazette that it did everything in its power to help Margaret and was unaware of any complaint she had.

A council spokeswoman said: “We have been to visit Mrs Antony twice since she moved in and no complaints have been made to us about the condition of the property.

“One of our staff personally took Mrs Antony on an initial viewing of Wickbourne House.

“Throughout the viewing, Mrs Antony repeatedly said she loved the property and was keen to accept.

“There were no signs of damp or mould or urine stains. The council would never let the property had there been.

“Indeed, no reports of damp, urine stains or mould have been made to the council since Mrs Anthony moved in.”

She added: “We are sorry Mrs Antony appears to be unhappy in her new home and would encourage her to contact us directly so we can discuss a way of resolving the issues.”