RESIDENTS who have faced months of delays and mishaps at the hands of a council contractor were left disappointed when representatives for the firm failed to turn up to a meeting to discuss the problems.

Members of Eastcote Lane Residents' Association have labelled building company Kier "rude" for failing to show up at their AGM despite promising to attend.

As the meeting was due to begin, nobody from Kier had turned up and nobody had called to say a representative was not able to attend.

The residents' association tried in vain to call people from the company and had to go ahead with the meeting without them.

Ann Scotter, chair of the residents' association, said: "It's the sheer rudeness of it. If they were not going to send someone, the least they could have done was to call and let us know they couldn't make it. We felt really let down."

Kier had been invited to the meeting to hear some of the complaints from residents who are having refurbishment work done by the contractor, working on behalf of Harrow Council.

Residents have experienced a number of problems since Kier took over the housing refurbishment contract in the middle of last year, including flooded bedrooms, broken ceilings, unfinished wiring and, in one case, a toilet cistern falling off the wall.

Carol Martin, secretary of the association, said she caught two Kier workmen using a resident's washing machine when they were supposed to be working.

Although the on-site manager denied they had used the washing machine, Ms Martin reported the incident but has not heard back from Kier.

She said: "We think they chickened out of coming to the meeting because they knew they would be in for some stick.

"The guys from the council had to take the stick instead, and they seemed embarrassed nobody from Kier had shown up."

Members of the association continued to try to reach a Kier representative after the meeting, which happened on Wednesday, June 4, only to find phones were switched off.

Francesca Byrne, a spokesman for Kier, said: "We are very disappointed that we missed out on attending the Eastcote Lane AGM meeting last Wednesday and can only apologise that the invite for the event was not received by the appropriate department within the company."

She added the firm has offered to give a presentation to the residents' association and has distributed a list of contact details to all residents' associations to try to make sure it does not happen again.