Living by candlelight in a dangerous and crumbling block of flats

In the gloom of his one bed flat, Tony Henry describes the moment the electricity was cut off.

"We were watching telly and bam! Just like that it went off," the 68-year-old said. "They gave nobody no notice."

Mr Howard is one of a number of mainly elderly people eking out an existence in a condemned block of flats on an otherwise neat and tidy cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Middleton. Outside, piles of rubbish litter the overgrown grass in what, at first glance, appears to be abandoned building site.

READ MORE: Inquest hears more details about tragedy that saw man, 29, die in Dovestone Reservoir

Inside it's even worse. The dank and dingy staircase is covered in scaffolding.

Cracks can be seen in the walls and large gaps wide enough to fit your hand through run alongside the main window. The flats on Baguley Crescent were condemned by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in May 2023 following a blaze in which three people were rescued from the second floor.

It's understood the service had concerns about the safety of fire escapes and the danger of fire spreading through the building.

A second prohibition notice was also issued in May this year. Despite that, a number of residents have continued to live in the dangerous and crumbling three-storey building.

They shouldn't be there, but they say they have nowhere else to go. Bury council insists that all residents were offered alternative accommodation following the fire last year.

Then on October 1, the building's electricity supply was cut off due to what Electricity North West described as 'safety reasons'.

The power company said there was 'evidence of an illegal and highly dangerous connection bypassing the meter'. It's meant that since then the remaining residents have been living by candlelight, unable to cook or heat their homes.

"I had medicine I need in the fridge," said Mr Henry, who suffered a heart attack last December and takes regular medication. "Everything is spoilt, everything has gone bad. I can't cook, I can't even make a cup of tea."

Mr Henry says he's been relying on neighbours and friends to bring food round for him. "They want us out, but we have nowhere to go," he said. "They need to put the electric back on and give people time to make arrangements to move.

"But nobody knows what's going. It's wrong, it's shameful. They shouldn't be treating us like animals in a pen. I can’t handle it, it’s too much."

Ground floor neighbour Loz Cook, 68, had a triple heart bypass in September and also has to take regular medication. He stayed at the flat for the first few nights and was living by the light of a torch.

"I've had to throw all my food away," he said. "I couldn't make a cup of tea or coffee, I couldn't cook anything. I've got an electric cooker but I can't use it.

"I was living on bags of crisps. It's disgusting what they've done. We're being treated like animals. They won't talk to us. All you get is 'It's nothing to do with us, it's not council property'.

"There's no humanity in this. To do this to a group of people is ridiculous. I've not had a notification saying we want you out of this property or there's something wrong with this property."

The building is a combination of privately-rented and resident-owned flats. One woman, who owns her flat but asked not to be named, said she had been sleeping in her car since the power was switched off. She returns home to pick up clothes so she can change for work.

She says she has severe depression and diabetes and works full-time and worries about the impact on her job and health.

"Without a house, how is anything possible?" she said. "Everything is disturbed - my sleep, my eating. I'm a single person, I have no children, partner or family. I have no help.

"There’s no respect, I wonder why am I alive. I feel shame."

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Bury council say they have taken enforcement action against the owner of the building in an attempt to ensure repairs are carried out. Despite that, the work has not been completed.

The freehold on the flats is owned by Enlightenment Investments Ltd, based in New Malden in south west London. A spokesperson on behalf of the company told the Manchester Evening News: "The leases of this building impose no obligation on the freeholder to maintain the building and maintenance is the responsibility of the individual leaseholders.

"Following our client’s purchase in 2011, we did offer assistance to the leaseholders to vary the lease provisions so that the building could be effectively managed by the freeholder. However, no responses were received."

It's understood 'extensive' repairs are needed to make the building safe. Attempts have been made to contacts the leaseholders of the flats.

Ronnie Moore, a spokesperson on behalf of one of the leaseholders, said attempts had been made to carry out the repairs but the work had to be delayed due to people continuing to live in the condemned building.

A spokesperson for Electricity North West said: "Following reports of a power cut, engineers attended site and found that fuses in the electricity board had been removed. There was also evidence of an illegal and highly dangerous connection bypassing the meter.

"Given the state of the property, and the risk to life, engineers were not able to restore power and had to carry out disconnection from the mains for safety reasons until the issues are rectified."