Tracy Longhurst was just falling asleep when she heard a noise in her sister’s
bedroom on the top floor of the house they used to share on Connaught
Square, in central London – a few doors away from where Tony Blair now
lives. “I heard the dog barking and Dawn screaming,” she recalls. “I ran
into her bedroom and saw a man’s legs coming in through the window.”
The Longhurst sisters were lucky: the commotion scared the would-be intruder,
who had taken the easy route in by climbing up the scaffolding on the house
next door. “Although he never managed to get completely inside, it was
terrifying,” says Longhurst, 40. “There was a ladder left on the ground
floor and he just climbed right up.”
Kitty Jones from Highbury, north London, meanwhile, has been suffering thanks
to the scaffolding next door since it was erected almost six months ago. “I
work from home, and the guys on the scaffolding act as if they’re at a
football game, yelling, swearing and chucking things down instead of
carrying them properly,” she says. “Several times, large pieces of wood have
landed in our garden. I don’t let my children out to play when I know
they’re working because it’s potentially dangerous.”
For David Montrose, from Richmond, Surrey, it was his own scaffolding that
caused the problem. He paid almost £2,000 to have it erected on his
five-storey Edwardian house for repairs on the brickwork and roof. The job
took three weeks: four months later, the mass of steel outside was still
there.
“I rang the firm’s main number about 30 times, and kept getting a fax
machine,” he says. “Then I rang the scaffolder’s mobile, but got an
answerphone. After two weeks, I got a human voice: his girlfriend. I lied
and said if they didn’t collect it within 24 hours, another firm in the area
would. They came the next afternoon.”
The problem is that it is not cost-effective for builders to remove
scaffolding until they have another job, because it is expensive to store.
Better to leave it where it is. “Next time, I’ll get it in writing that the
scaffolding must come down within a week of the work being completed,”
Montrose says.
Sadly, few real-life contractors have the good manners of the tea-sipping posh
scaffolders in Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse’s BBC1 spoof Ruddy Hell!
It’s Harry and Paul. The reality is often one of long metal poles wielded
with alarming dexterity, rubble tossed from rooftops into skips and wolf
whistles at anyone in a skirt.
None of this is against the law, of course, but when it comes to safety, there
are ways of protecting yourself. First, make sure your own scaffolding is
alarmed and that all ladders are safely out of reach, pushed up to the first
floor, at least. If neighbours fail to do the same and you are burgled, you
might be able to claim damages, says Simon Jones, an associate solicitor at
Cripps Harries Hall, in Tunbridge Wells.
“It is difficult to stop people from erecting scaffolding or to ensure they
make it secure,” he says. “So, put in writing that you believe there is a
genuine risk of a breach of security, and that, if they don’t take the
necessary precautions – such as alarming the scaffolding – you’ll threaten
legal action in the form of an injunction.” Actually getting one may be
difficult, but you will have made clear to your neighbours that you will
hold them responsible for any losses.
Neil Tomlinson, marketing manager for the National Access & Scaffolding
Confederation, says it is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that
access to scaffolding is restricted when they are not there. Requirements
for membership of the group, which comprises about 170 companies – more than
half those in the UK – include public liability insurance and high levels of
training. Members must also abide by its code of conduct, which insists that
they work “with due regard to the best standards of workmanship, integrity
and courtesy”.
“Unfortunately, cowboy scaffolders come with the territory,” Tomlinson admits.
“There are still people who hang off scaffolding and wolf-whistle at every
woman who walks by. But when you look at scaffolding today, you can see that
for the most part the image has changed significantly.”
Try telling that to the Longhursts, who, several years on, are still haunted
by the memory of their nocturnal visitor. “After the attempted break-in, I
eventually got married and moved, but when we decided to renovate our new
house, I insisted on living in rented accommodation until the scaffolding
came down,” Tracy says. “I was just too scared to stay there when it was up.
My sister sleeps with a crowbar under her bed to this day.”
One can only hope Blair doesn’t feel the need to do the same.
Test their metal
- Make sure your own scaffolding is alarmed and ladders are out of reach,
pushed up to at least the first floor.
- Speak to neighbours if they fail to do the same. If they refuse, send a
letter threatening legal action in the form of an injunction.
- If neighbours erect scaffolding and you are burgled as a result, consult a
solicitor. You may be able to claim damages.
- It is the responsibility of the contractor to make sure that access is
restricted when workmen are not there.
- Make sure your chosen firm belongs to the National Access & Scaffolding
Confederation, which requires its members to offer a high level of training
and public liability insurance.
- If next door’s scaffolding overhangs onto your land, this is likely to
constitute a trespass. The same is true if rubble falls onto your property –
your neighbours are obliged to clear it up.
