A mother woke up to her seven-week-old baby crying and water dripping onto his head after a pipe leaked in her building.

Grandmother Tracy Doneo received a concerned call from daughter Katie, 27, following the leak at an upstairs flat in Northgate Path, Borehamwood, shortly after 6am yesterday morning.

But Tracy has slammed Clarion Housing for its immediate response to the situation accusing the housing association of "letting her daughter down".

Water began leaking from into Katie's one-bedroom flat at around 6am and the rooms began filling with water - reportedly two inches worth, and Katie began mopping up as much as she could.

Borehamwood Times:

All of Katie and her baby son's belongings had to be piled up with water dripping onto the floor

She called her mother in a panic, and after she arrived, at around 6.30am, she called local councillor Michelle Vince after getting nowhere with Clarion.

Cllr Vince turned up immediately and she decided to call the fire brigade who arrived at 7.15am and helped switch off the water.

Borehamwood Times:

Borehamwood Times:

Outside the flats in Northgate Path with the leak down one side of the building

Tracy said: "We were hoping someone would come round, stop the water leaking, and sort out the electrics. We could not sterilise the baby's bottle and had to go out and get hot water for him.

"But Clarion kept hanging up on us. It was an absolute nightmare. It was heartbreaking to get a call from my daughter telling me there was water pouring in everywhere. She felt really lonely and vulnerable.

"This may have been an accident but Clarion should have been more reassuring. They offered us no help or advice and they should not have hung up on us three times. Clarion really let my daughter down. I am fuming."

The flat was habitable, largely thanks to the amount of mopping, but the family said there was a "strong smell of damp".

Borehamwood Times:

At 9.30am, they were told someone would be around shortly before 11am.

Yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) a Clarion spokesperson said: "We’re working with the residents affected by the unexpected leak and appreciate the inconvenience they experienced this morning.

"Both our in-house repairs and maintenance service and our gas contractor have been on-site today to make sure the properties are safe and are working to get things back to normal for our residents as soon as possible."