A DISTRESSED borough mum, forced to flee Tilbury's flooded Brisbane House tower block, has slammed Thurrock Council – claiming they are pressing her to keep paying her rent, even though she cannot stay in her ruined flat.

Dozens of families were evacuated from the 64 flats in the 15-storey block on Wednesday, 12 November when contents of a large water tank on the roof flooded the flats below.

Katie Symmons, 28, lives on the 14^th floor with her daughters, aged seven and two. Rather than be moved to temporary accommodation in hotels – with some people being moved as far away as Southend, Chelmsford, Ilford and, reportedly, Clacton – Katie opted to move with her girls into her mum's home in the borough.

Though she is not able to make use of her rented home and is not costing the council anything for her accommodation, Katie says she was shocked this week to be put under pressure by council officers.

She told Thurrock Nub News: "I've been told I still have to pay rent or they will put me in rent arrears, and I don't want a debt above my head.

"I'm at my mum's as it was the safest place for my children, because with hotels they wanted to send me possibly as far away as Clacton and I couldn't do that.

"I'm trying to keep strong for my children but obviously it's a massive toll – and on top of Christmas as well. My kids want to go home and there is no home."

She said Thurrock Council had questions to answer over the state of the flats, adding: "I'm still having to pay around £850 a month, which I think is diabolical for [those] flats anyway. All the windows are blown, the flats have mould. They seem to just shrug everyone off. They have got a lot to answer for."

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Thurrock Council has not answered questions about rent payments – and it has also said it was "unhelpful to speculate" on when residents would be able to return to the flats.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (19 November), council leader Cllr Lynn Worrrall praised the work of officers, saying: "We have had officers on hand at Tilbury library and hub each day since this happened to offer support and advice to anyone who needs it and each household has been given a named officer who is looking after their needs.

"I can't imagine anything worse than having to leave your home unexpectedly in this way but I want to assure them that we will do everything we can to work quickly and get their homes ready for them to return as soon as possible."