A Johnstone woman fears the ceiling of her flat could potentially collapse due to major flooding affecting the building.

Elizabeth Gough said rainwater had been seeping into her Houstoun Square property for several years from the top-floor council flat directly above her own.

The 70-year-old now believes her health and safety is at risk as the situation continues to worsen.

Elizabeth told The Gazette: "The flooding got so bad in the flat above that the ceiling fell in and the environmental health department eventually got involved.

The Gazette: Water damage in Houstoun Square flatWater damage in Houstoun Square flat (Image: Newsquest)

The Gazette:

"When they came in last year the flat above was condemned, but I only found out about this a few weeks ago.

"Renfrewshire Council never contacted me to let me know how bad it was upstairs, even though I kept phoning and phoning them about it."

Elizabeth believes rain is now falling directly into the flat above, which has resulted in worsening water damage to her own property.

She said: "My bedroom is full of black mould, the ceiling is all bubbled and there is water now flowing into my electric lights in the sitting room.

The Gazette:

The Gazette:

"I've got eight buckets between the two rooms catching water and everything is in backpacks because the water is just poring in.

"I've paid all this money to buy this flat and now it is completely destroyed."

Elizabeth said she felt "paranoid" about leaving her property unattended when it is raining.

She added: "I've been invited to go down to England and there's no way I could leave this flat for a week.

The Gazette:

The Gazette:

"I am worried about my ceiling falling in as when the heavy rain comes on, it just pours into my flat because there's nothing stopping it in the flat upstairs."

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: "We acknowledge the distress that the owner is experiencing and continue to do everything we can to resolve the issues with the roof, which we have assessed as reaching end of life.

"The council is a minority owner of this block of flats and has no jurisdiction over the building, including the roof. All homeowners and owners of commercial units in this block have joint responsibility to maintain and repair the common part of the building. However, the council have and will continue to provide repairs where we can.

"We are currently preparing a proposal to replace the roof entirely and will put forward this proposal and outline costs to all owners in a consultation. If a majority of owners agree, we will progress with this work."