A MAN has been driven out of his home after enduring weeks of hell at the hands of a housing association.

Following the Valentine’s Day blast in Gibbs Crescent Ian Francis and his partner Sammy Clark are now at their ‘wits end’ as they still do not feel safe in their home.

After the initial explosion which destroyed a three-storey block of flats and killed 48-year-old Guido Schuette, the couple were forced out of their flat and had to stay in sheltered accommodation in George Moore Close.

For four weeks Mr Francis, who is partially sighted, and Ms Clark had to endure living off chip takeaways and microwave meals as there was not suitable equipment in the accommodation for them to prepare a healthy meal.

Finally they returned to Gibbs Crescent two weeks ago but still do not feel safe and say they have had enough of being ‘walked all over’ by A2Dominion, which runs the flats.

The partially sighted 48-year-old said: “We have been living a nightmare and it is time for this all to end.

“A2Dominion are nothing but rat-faced liars who have made our lives a misery.

“We haven’t been told anything about what is happening and we can’t continue to live here, we are both depressed.”

At the end of next month the pair will move back to Cardiff where they hope to continue to dedicate their time to Mr Francis’ volunteer organisation VIP Lounge.

Not only do they run a radio station but also support visually impaired people by providing them housing.

Mr Francis said: “We have already found a house and we are going to bring the people in Oxford we support, over to Cardiff.

“Sammy and I will then live in a caravan parked on the house we are renting.

“We just can’t continue living here, the hand rails they’ve put up for us around the damaged flats cut your hands and the £50 promised to us to help us cover food costs when we returned never happened.”

The pair said they were sad to leave the city as they loved where they had lived but felt they needed to move on after the explosion.

A2Dominion Group Housing Director Dawn Wightman said they had been doing everything to support Mr Francis.

She added: “When Mr Francis and his partner returned to Gibbs Crescent, we offered them £50 to help cover the cost of replacing food items in their fridge that perished whilst they were staying in temporary accommodation.

“This was offered as a goodwill gesture however, Mr Francis did not accept this money.

“If he has now changed his mind, we would ask him to contact us directly and we will transfer the money to him.

“We have written to all residents to explain the plans for dismantling the flats that were severely damaged in the explosion.”

A2Dominion staff continues to be on site every week day.

Ms Wightman added: “Our priority at the moment is to retrieve as many personal belonging as possible from these flats for the residents who will not be able to return.

“Once this has been done, we will finalise arrangements with our structural engineers for the damaged properties to be taken down safely. We are aiming to do this as soon as possible.”