This is the first picture of a grandmother who died when her house collapsed in floods – after she spent months warning a council about the danger.
Susan Norman, 68, was killed when her home was engulfed by a landslip following a heavy downpour in Looe, Cornwall.
The building containing six flats crashed to the ground on March 22 and mum-of-two Susan was the only resident who did not escape.
Susan had previously warned Cornwall Council about the danger and had contributed to a 65 page dossier put together by neighbours outlining their flood concerns.
Retired police officer Pete Temlett, 59, who compiled the dossier with local residents, said it was handed to officials in February – two months before she died.
He said the dossier outlined problems dating back over ten years including blocked drains and poor curbing which were exposing the building to a serious risk.
The council had a ten day period to respond to the residents which they failed to meet eventually saying they would come back to them by today.
But before they responded Susan was killed and pulled from the home after a search by rescue teams and sniffer dogs.
Mr Temlett said: ”The police are now investigating the dossier and have advised us not to disclose anything from it. The council has failed to act on information given to them.
“We put in all the evidence with photographs, letters, and e-mails received from the council.
“They refused to accept that we were vulnerable here and we even asked them if we could be engulfed by the road above and they said they had surveyed it and were quite happy with how things were.
“Mrs Norman did contribute to it, she told us about her concerns and safety with water at the back of her house and the water running over.
“She had made it very clear that she had concerns for her safety in her house as a result of the landslips that had already happened and we were very aware of that.”
Devon and Cornwall Police say it has launched a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive.
A police spokesman said: “Work is currently on-going to make the site safe, in order to allow further specialist examinations to take place.”
