Woman ordered to remove 'fire hazard' plants

An elderly widow has been ordered to remove flower pots from outside her window after a council ruled they were a health and safety risk.

Theresa Cumberlidge, 80, has kept geraniums and other plants on her second-floor balcony, which she says nobody else uses, for the past 30 years. But officials who swooped without warning on flats in Sydenham, south London, said the pots might block a fire evacuation.



Mrs Cumberlidge said: “I am so upset. How can my few geraniums be a fire risk? Three big men and a woman just turned up and told me they were going to take them away. One man was about to pick them up and throw them away. I managed to plead with him to leave them so I could do it.

“I was shaking. I felt intimidated and so angry. They have been there for 30 years. I can’t think of any harm they are doing.” A Lewisham Council spokesman said: “In the event of a fire, it is essential that communal escape routes are free from items that could pose a potential hazard.”