The mess outside Josephine Christopher’s home

JOSEPHINE Christopher has paid her rent on time to Islington Council every month for the past 30 years but said she won’t “give them one more penny” until they sort out her pigeon poo problem.

When Ms Christopher first moved to Stelfox House in King’s Cross in 1995 she says she had to remove five black bags’ worth of pigeon faeces from the balcony.

Since then she’s been extensively cleaning the balcony every month while also working as a carer for the council.

However, after she was diagnosed with a heart condition and developed a cough two years ago, Ms Christopher was no longer able to clean the balcony herself.

The balcony area covered in pigeon droppings

This means the droppings have been piling up, and she is now refusing to pay her rent until the council does something to help her.

Ms Christoper told the Tribune: “They [the council] make me sick. It’s unhealthy for me to live like this. I will not give them a penny until they do something about it. If they don’t like it they can take me to court.

“I just can’t do it any more. I am so angry. I cough all the time. I can’t sleep. It’s making the flat damp and cold.”

Josephine Christopher says she has been coughing for two years

Ms Christopher claims she has been coughing for more than two years, and spent 11 days in University College Hospital last September with a chest infection. She believes her ill-health was caused by her living conditions. She said it was as if the council “want me dead.”

Ms Christopher says she has contacted the Town Hall more than 20 times, but no one is able to help her. She claims that private contractors had been sent from the council on two previous occasions, but they had only taken pictures of the problem, rather than do anything to fix it.

An Islington Council spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that everyone in Islington has a safe, decent, and genuinely affordable place to call home.

“We’re sorry about the state of the balcony in this tenant’s home. It’s not acceptable, and we want to sort it out.

“We’ve tried to call our tenant but have been unable to get hold of her. We very much want to help to get the situation resolved as soon as possible.

“We are currently obtaining quotes from contractors to remove any residual mess from the balcony and will arrange for netting to be installed to prevent the situation from continuing.

“Balcony cleaning is generally the responsibility of tenants, but this is an exceptional situation and we will clean the balcony and take action to deter pigeons.”