A 71-year-old Bexleyheath woman faces Christmas alone as rain water has been gushing through her bedroom ceiling for five weeks.

Gloria Leggitt, of Hanover Way, says she has "aged 10 years" because of the situation, which has also seen her ceiling collapse.

The problem has caused her such stress she now hears a dripping noise even when it has stopped.

To make matter worse, it now looks as though the pensioner will be facing Christmas by herself. 

She wants to keep an eye on the situation, but does not want to make her sister stay in the wet flat.

Miss Leggitt added her landlord, Orbit Housing, is not helping. 

She said: "It’s put 10 years on me. The stress is making me ill. 

"It’s not just dripping, sometimes it’s like pouring from a tap. 

"It keeps me up whole nights and now sometimes I hear a drip when there’s not.

"The ceiling collapsed and the water has been coming through four different places.

"My sister was going to come from Cornwall to stay with me for Christmas but she can’t now and I don’t want to leave here in case something happens."

News Shopper:

Miss Leggitt, who has paid full rent at her flat for 27 years, is flabbergasted as to why the problem is continuing.

She said: "It first started on October 13 - this is the fifth week it’s been happening.

"Orbit sent someone in to fix it, tried to fix it but it was still leaking. 

"Eventually the roofers said they needed to have scaffolding but Orbit say they don’t want to pay for this.

"I feel like I’m going to be stuck here forever like this.

"It’s absolutely terrible and I’m just getting desperate."

Miss Leggitt has spent hours desperately rearranging her belongings to keep dry.

She said: "It’s gone all over my carpet and bed. 

"I had to keep moving the bed to stop it getting wet."

Orbit South's director of property services David Collick told News Shopper: “We worked closely with our contractor, to the attend the home so that they can establish the root cause and a course of action that will permanently resolve the issue.

"We have agreed this with Miss Leggitt and apologise for any inconvenience it has caused.”