A SALTCOATS mum is furious at the council’s apparent failure to send out a plumber when a pipe burst and flooded her kitchen.

The 52-year-old says she had to throw out food from her fridge and freezer and discard various electrical items after water seeped into her kitchen.

But the support assistant claims that while North Ayrshire Council deployed an electrician within hours, they failed to arrange for a plumber.

She said: “I came down from the shower to find my kitchen was full of water.

“I was sickened because the council told me it wasn’t an emergency and just to mop it up with a towel or use a bucket.

“They sent an electrician and he found my kitchen bulb was full of water. I had to remove all my appliances because of water damage.

“I’m absolutely disgusted because I was left like that the whole weekend. My wallpaper is falling off and I’ve had to take two days emergency leave from my work so I’m losing money for that.”

Two days after her kitchen flooded, the resident contacted Councillor Jim Montgomerie, who arranged for a plumber to come out the next morning.

He said: “I really felt sorry for her. There is nothing worse than when you see water coming in through your ceiling through the electrics. What I find hard to understand is why an electrician was sent out and not a plumber because she clearly stated on the phone that there was a leak coming through her ceiling. On the repair records, it was only an electrician that was requested – strange!”

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said that an electrician was sent after the resident called to report her shower was leaking. The waterlogged light fitting was immediately disconnected and made safe, while the resident was advised not to use her shower until a plumber had visited.

The spokesperson added: “She was not told to switch off any other appliances, including her fridge and freezer. She did request that a plumber visit but as we felt that the water was being contained, we did not deem this an emergency and our on-call plumbers were deployed elsewhere.

“The plumber attended on the Monday morning and was able to fix the problem. An inspector also attended on the Monday to assess any water related damage to the fabric of the property and has raised works for the damaged ceiling. A dehumidifier was delivered to the property as a precaution the following morning.”