A RESIDENT is “disgusted” after a housing provider forced him out of his home to fix a bathroom leak.

And Michael James, of Batchelors Barn Road, said Aster Group never told him the house he and his family have lived in for the past five years has asbestos.

The former Andover town councillor’s troubles first began when he reported a leak coming from his upstairs bathroom a couple of weeks ago.

Water dripped down into his dining room and dislodged part of the Artex ceiling, which fell on to his dining room table.

A plumber did not investigate the issue until Friday, March 10, when Mr James found out for the first time that his house had asbestos in it.

Mr James said: “[The plumber] looked on his iPad and said: ‘You’ve got asbestos’ and that’s when all hell broke loose.

“They knew there was asbestos but they didn’t tell us about it.

“We’re not happy about this at all.”

The plumber informed Aster about the situation, which prompted a visit by a representative who told the family they had 20 minutes in which to pack up and leave their home while repairs were being made.

He added he could barely take any clothes with him as he keeps them in the dining room and they could have been contaminated with asbestos dust.

Mr James said he and and his family were left on the side of the road in the rain.

The 63-year-old said: “I think it’s disgusting, I do.

“The way we got treated, we had to get out in 20 minutes.

“It was raining, we had our bags, and we were left on the side of the road in the rain.

“We were waiting there for about half an hour, in the end I rang for a taxi, it was upsetting as it was.”