Rustington widow left homeless as winds wreck house

Phyllis Merridue, of Woodlands Avenue, was left shaken after strong winds battered her council house during the early hours of Sunday morning (November 25), causing part of the gable end to collapse.

But it’s something that the 76-year-old and her stunned neighbours say could have been avoided.

Phyllis had alerted emergency weekend staff at Arun District Council about her concerns over the safety of her property’s gable end, which looked to be in need of maintenance, earlier on Saturday afternoon.

She had been assured by someone at the authority that there was nothing to worry about and that the weather shouldn’t have affected her home. Hours later, with rubble and debris scattered across her front garden and her house sealed off, she was left temporarily homeless.

Describing the moment the stormy weather wrecked her house, Phyllis said: “I have never heard such a crash in all my life. It was horrible. I thought ‘My God, the house is coming down!’ It was really very frightening.

“I was staying in my sitting room because I was scared that my home could collapse.”

A spokeswoman for the authority, which is responsible for the upkeep of Phyllis’ residence, said: “We are carrying out an investigation into what happened and accept that the property should have been inspected after the matter was first reported.”

For the full story, see this week’s Littlehampton Gazette (Thursday, November 29).