FLOODING at a housing complex left residents with no electricity, heating and hot water and raised fears about the potential risk of asbestos in the building.

The bottom floor of Broadway Court, on the corner Broadway and Dodworth Road, was flooded after a burst pipe on Friday afternoon.

Tenants said water was coming out of light fittings and their electricity was cut off at several points over the weekend.

Resident Patrick Watt said he later discovered his neighbour who has a learning disability and had not answered his door had no power in his flat until Sunday.

Yorkshire Housing, which manages the building, said the tenant in question lived independently and they made contact with him on Sunday evening.

“It was coming out the lights, flooding in the community room, in the hallways, in people’s flats,” Mr Watt said, who was critical of Yorkshire Housing’s response.

“One man came from the fire service and a tenant upstairs had to tell them where to go to switch the water off.

“They have had security guards on because the electric doors were obviously stuck open and it was pitch black.

“My nine-year-old son went to hospital early hours of Saturday morning with breathing difficulties, he was white as a ghost.

“Even the ambulance men who came out to see my son had to feel their way back down the corridor.

“The lifts were out, there were no cameras, no lighting. It’s been disgusting.”

The fire service disconnected the gas and electrical supplies to the communal heating due to the possibility of water ingress. And they said heating and hot water was restored on Saturday morning.

Mr Watt is also concerned about asbestos in the building and the impact of damage to it, but Yorkshire Housing said risks are ‘extremely low’ and measures have been taken to reduce any further risk.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Housing said: “At all times our immediate concern is resident safety, for example residents received torches on Friday evening and we provided battery lighting to corridors as a precaution. The main damage caused from the burst mains water pipe was to the smoke detection system. Additionally, the emergency escape lighting has been affected.

“Our team, comprising three staff members from Yorkshire Housing and two electricians, knocked on all flat doors at the site, to make contact with all customers and conduct electric checks at all flats.

“The team left at around 10pm on Friday evening after seeing all but two customers who did not answer their door. Measures were put in place to make contact with these two customers with a notice to contact our emergency services before entering their homes.”

She said staff had been out to buy torches and battery powered lights from a supermarket. A security guard was also put in place to regularly patrol around the properties.

“On Saturday morning the caretaker and health and safety officer returned to site and again made contact with customers in the flats. The head of our repairs service also attended the site to reassure customers and to inspect damage.

“On Sunday we had a call from a flat with no electrics and an engineer arrived to find no-one in at the property. The security guard will remain on the site until we are confident that all repairs are completed to ensure our residents safety.

“We would like to reassure customers that the risk to health caused by any asbestos is extremely low. We have conducted an asbestos air test, which is clear. Additionally, we have taken measures to reduce any further risk.”