A report has slammed South Kesteven District Council over how it handled hot water and heating problems at the Riverside flats in Grantham.

The report, which will be debated at a council meeting next week, comes on top of another report this week which reported safety and compliance failings over how the council manages its housing stock, as reported by Nub News yesterday.

Opposition councillors have branded this latest incident the "Riverside scandal."

Coun Phil Dilks (Ind-Deeping St James) said this second report has "forced the [ruling] Conservatives [on the council] to admit some of our most elderly and vulnerable residents were left to suffer month after month – right through winter - without proper heating and hot water."

The Riverside Report concludes:

â—Serious issues with hot water and heating began in 2016 but there was no central point to record issues and complaints and management oversight.

â—Lack of action by the Council to fully investigate and resolve the root cause of the concerns until a decision was made to replace pipework in January 2019.

â—Failure to follow SKDC's own procedures and the Council's Project Officer may not have been suitably qualified in commercial heating.

â—Failure to follow legal requirements relating to managing removal of Asbestos in the Riverside flats which led to the Health and Safety Executive issuing a prohibition notice.

â—Considerable hardship endured by residents due to the project not completing until February 2020, instead of the end of August 2019

â—Insufficient temporary measures by the council to provide residents with enough hot water and heating during the cold winter months

â—Most residents are elderly and retired, some with long term health issues, so the impact was significant. Residents felt let down, not cared about and lied to.

In a joint statement SKDC Chief Executive Karen Bradford and Leader Cllr Kelham Cooke said: "The safety and wellbeing of residents is the Council's priority and we are truly sorry for the impact on Riverside residents. The issues at Riverside have been fully resolved - with direct action being taken to address the report's findings.

"It is our mission to ensure that issues like those experienced at Riverside are never repeated. We are investing significant additional resources into our housing service to improve the quality of service and support that we provide to residents."

Coun Ashley Baxter (Ind-Market West and Deeping) branded what happened concerning the Riverside flats a "fiasco" and said it confirmed how SKDC's housing department was 'underperforming.'

Coupled with yesterday's report on council housing, he added: " "This is a truly shocking revelation. It appears successive Conservative Leaders and Portfolio-Holders have been asleep at the wheel regarding council housing."