A young family are facing disruption in their own home after the kitchen ceiling had to be removed over asbestos concerns.

Chelsea Parden-Bell, who lives on Watford Close in Halliwell, says she was initially dealing with a bathroom leak at the Bolton at Home property for around a year, which has now been fixed after “several jobs”.

However, Chelsea says three cracks started to form in the ceiling, so work was going to be carried out to repair this.

But on Thursday she says concerns were raised over it being an old roof, and whether there was risk of asbestos.

She said this meant that rather than part of the ceiling being removed due to the leak, the whole kitchen ceiling had to be removed.

The Bolton News:

Although work started yesterday, Friday, to plaster the ceiling, Chelsea says it caused a huge amount of anxiety over how she would cook in the kitchen and how cold the house would be.

She said: “Only part of the ceiling was meant to be dropped down, but they said we would need the whole ceiling dropping down, because there is risk of asbestos.

“I asked them how I would cook with no ceiling because I was worried that bits might fall.

“They said they would put a sheet on the ceiling, so nothing could fall from it, and it put me at ease.

The Bolton News: “They said it’s fine, but how am I supposed let the kids in the kitchen?”

Chelsea says that plastering work is expected to continue on Monday but that she does not know how or when the wallpaper will be replaced, or when redecorating will start.

She understands the need for the work, but she now feels as though her kitchen has been ruined.

Chelsea said: “It’s two weeks before Christmas and it was not cleaned up.

“They have come out to plaster the ceiling and I can’t fault them.

“But it’s just unfair. I have three children, and two have asthma, so I have been concerned about that.

“If I knew it was going to take this long, I would have wanted to wait until after Christmas.”

Chelsea also says she does not know if asbestos was discovered.

In response, a Bolton at Home spokesperson said: “We care about our tenants’ safety and can assure them that we take all necessary precautions regarding potential asbestos risks.

“In this case, we brought in a specialist contractor to safely remove the ceiling, and followed that up by visiting the next day to reboard it.

“These repairs span multiple days given their nature, and we thought we had communicated that effectively so we’re sorry if there’s been any confusion.

“We’ll continue to work to resolve all remaining issues quickly, and will keep our tenant informed.”

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