Northampton pensioner who was 'nearly killed' in car smash at retirement village calls for 'fire hazard' patio door fix

A “worried” elderly woman living in Northampton says she has been waiting years for her housing association to fix a “fire hazard” door after a car smashed through it.

Ann Church, who lives in St Crispin’s Retirement Village, says she was “nearly killed” after a car drove through her patio door on September 16, 2019.

The pensioner said: “Three years ago a lady drove into my patio door. My granddaughter was here at the time with her eight month old baby and she screamed. The car just crashed through the door into the lounge.

"We were lucky. It could have been worse. If she had come just a few feet further we could have been killed.”

Over the course of the next three years, Ann says her patio door has not been fixed properly and she says it is a “fire hazard”. Midland Heart has repaired her door several times, however Ann she is still unable to open it from the inside.

She said: “Since then I have had an issue with the patio door, I can’t open it from the inside. When I mentioned it to the managers they said, ‘well it’s not a fire hazard’. But to my mind it is.

"I feel very insecure. Worried. Over the course of three years there have been umpteen men come out and look at it…they’ve just said it’s got to be replaced.”

Ann was told in August that her door would be fixed “shortly” but she is still waiting two months later, which has led to her contacting the Chronicle and Echo.

She said: “The maintenance team said it will be out shortly, but that was two months ago so what do they call shortly? It should be a priority.”

This newspaper got in touch with Midland Heart (MH) asking when Ann’s door will be fixed.

A spokesperson from MH said: “After the initial incident involving our resident’s patio door, the door was replaced and other remedial works were carried out.

“During this summer Ms Church highlighted some issues with the new door and in August we confirmed that it needed replacing.

"Ms Church has full access to her property via her main front door and a new patio door is due to be installed on November 2.”