Elderly Horsham residents ‘left in the lurch’ during lockdown

The angry residents have had no access to television since the new lockdown started because of a faulty communal TV aerial - and after almost a week they are at the end of their tether.

They say they have complained several times to landlords London & Quadrant but say that nothing has been done.

Heather Clark, 75, lives in one of a number of bungalows affected in Murray Court. “We are all elderly and we can’t go out in this lockdown.

“Some people are housebound and they are really under the cosh.

“At this time of year you can’t even do much gardening. People want to sit and watch TV.”

She said when one resident complained she was told it was “not an emergency and would take 20 days to fix.”

Residents’ chairman Yvonne Rann said that she had also been unable to access TV or radio. She said it was not the first time that the residents had problems with the communal aerial.

“It happens virtually every month, but this is the worst. It’s the longest time we have had to wait. We have been told that it will be another week at least.

“The majority of us have medical conditions so we don’t go out and when you can’t even listen to the radio or watch TV you end up tearing your hair out or going stir crazy.”

She said there were other problems with the properties which took a long time to remedy and on one occasion, a security light had been out for four months.

A spokesperson for London & Quadrant said: “We are sorry that our residents at Murray Court have been having issues with their television service.

“Although we are aware that a few channels aren’t available, the service is working.

“There have been issues with the satellite dish and freeview service in the area before, which are unfortunately out of our control.

“The issue was reported on Sunday (November 8). It was categorised as an urgent repair which means it will be fixed within five days from the day it was reported.

“Our contracted TV specialists will be attending on Thursday (todayNovember 12) to fix the issues.”