A lecturer says she is sleep-deprived due to a leak in her kitchen which has been ongoing for six weeks.

Tandy Dube, who lives in Rochester, may have to miss out on seeing her family at Christmas because of the water coming through her ceiling.

She’s unable to cook and is relying on neighbours to stop her apartment from flooding.

The 55-year-old said: “It’s been a very stressful ordeal for me. In the night I have to set an alarm every hour to check the bucket.

“It’s making me tired, I can’t perform my work properly and I have a long drive every morning.”

Tandy’s flat in Five Bells Lane is managed by housing association London and Quadrant (L&Q).

On Wednesday, November 8, she came home to find water coming through her ceiling and her kitchen flooded.

She called the emergency line and an electrician was sent to shut the power off in the room.

A plumber came later that day and said it was the immersion heater in the flat above. But the job was too big for one person.

She said: “He told me he would call his manager in the morning. I was left here emptying buckets all night.”

Six weeks later, Tandy still has to put a large bucket on her cooker to collect the water and cover the floor with towels every day.

The leak starts when her neighbour puts the heating on.

She had planned to visit her cousins and auntie in Colchester over Christmas but can’t leave the flat for an extended amount of time. She may have to stay at home on her own instead.

L&Q has confirmed it will be sending an engineer out today (December 23) after KentOnline approached them for a comment.

Tandy added: “It’s very bad because it is affecting my mental health.

“I am tired, I am exhausted. If sleep deprivation could be used as torture then I am being tortured. I'm paying rent and I always pay it on time.”

Tandy is a lecturer at Lewisham College and has to ask her neighbour to check on her flat whilst she is at work to empty the bucket.

Unable to use her kitchen, she has been buying fresh food every day, ordering takeaways and eating at her friends houses.

This has cost her around £60 to £100 a week.

“I am out of pocket because I have to buy every time,” she explained.

“I would normally cook but I can't. I'm in debt because it won't be fixed.

“I think the housing company is just after money and they don’t care about their tenants.

“When I leave, I don’t know whether I’ll come back to find everything in order or everything flooded.”

Her home was also flooded in January 2020 due to a leak from a bath in the apartment above and Tandy was forced to throw away most of her things.

She has lived in her ground-floor flat since September 2006.

Tandy also has a rare disorder called Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (TTP), which only affects four to six people per million.

It is caused by the formation of tiny blood clots in the blood vessels all over the body.

She said: “My immune system is compromised – I shouldn’t be exposed to this filthy, contaminated water.

“It is just not fair and isn’t good for my health.”

Since this started, Tandy has called L&Q 15 times but says she has only been given "excuses".

Tandy has also spoken to Environmental Health at Medway Council and contacted local MP Kelly Tolhurst.

Chris Wigmore, director of maintenance services at L&Q, said: “We’re sorry that repairs to the leak at Ms Dube’s home have taken longer than we would like and we have apologised to her.

“We have now identified that there is a problem with the water storage tank in the property above, and a plumber will be on site today to replace the tank and resolve the issue.”