BATTLING pensioners on a rundown Silsden council estate are to get thousands of pounds to repair leaking roofs.

The Herald has highlighted the problems of flat-roofed flats on Gloucester Avenue, Silsden, over the last few months.

And this week housing bosses at Bradford Council announced the estate is to get £70,000 to complete the first phase of repairing the roofs.

The work will involve building shallow pitched roofs on the properties to allow water to run off.

The money has been allocated through talks with the district's Tenants' Federation.

Last year fed-up elderly and disabled residents on Gloucester Avenue and nearby Windsor Avenue formed their own tenants' association in a bid to get cash to carry out repairs.

Their "wish list" included new roofs and doors to replace those installed when the flats were built more than 50 years ago.

Association chairman Joyce Fearnley, who spearheaded the battle for cash, said she was delighted with the news.

"It's the beginning of a series of long-awaited jobs and I hope that every flat on the estate will eventually have a new roof," she said.

"We were quite surprised that this announcement has been made after we were told not to expect any money.

"It's good to know that we're not being forgotten after all, and I feel that I've eventually got a result."

Last month, housing boss Coun Jim O'Neil told tenants on the estate to realistically expect nothing from the council.

The flat-roofed flats in Gloucester Avenue were originally built by the Ministry of Defence during World War Two.

Residents say the situation is so bad that the majority of flats are letting in water during heavy rain.

The Herald highlighted the plight of one 74-year-old tenant who asked the council for a plank of wood on which to stand buckets to catch the drips from her kitchen ceiling.

And residents were also told of another who has to move her bed around the bedroom to avoid the water leaks.

A spokesman for Bradford Council's contract services department said the roofing work would be done in two phases, with the first phase expected to by carried out on four blocks later this year.

"The council is currently consulting with the district's Tenants' Federation about a programme of repairs and maintenance for the next financial year," he said.

"Contract services is proposing to alter flat-roofed properties in Gloucester Avenue, Silsden, to prevent leaking and other water-related problems.

"The council will endeavour to keep disruptions to a minimum while the work is going on."

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