A CARDIGAN family forced from their own home for the past 18 months due to no fault of their own is set to be made homeless on June 1.

Charity worker Patrick Workman and his family are unable to live at their house at Morgan Street in the town because it has been contaminated by both a fuel leak and raw sewage.

Mr Workman says a leak from petrol storage tanks at the back of the TM Daniel garage has contaminated his property and surrounding land, a situation then made worse by sewage leaking into the house foundations from a drain that serves the Ceredigion County Council offices and library next to his home.

It is claimed that work carried out in the lane by the council caused the problems.

The issue of liability is currently in the hands of solicitors and insurance companies and there seems little prospect of an imminent solution.

An initial survey by specialist contractors estimated it will cost in the region of £250,000 to put things right but that was carried out months ago and the costs are expected to have risen significantly and further testing may have to be undertaken.

Mr Workman is still paying a mortgage on the property and he and his family have been renting a property in Boncath, with all the financial pressures that entails.

Now the landlord wants the house back and the Workman family savings have finally been exhausted.

“We will be homeless as of June 1,” said Mr Workman.

“Our pot of money has run out and the situation as to liability could go on for years as at the moment no-one is prepared to accept responsibility for the contamination and we are caught in the middle.”

A spokesman for Ceredigion County Council said: “The council remain sympathetic to the Workman family’s situation.

“Whilst the precise cause of the leak and the issue of liability is yet to be resolved due to the complexity of the legal situation, the council is committed to ensuring that the required works are undertaken.

“The council is currently in the process of putting in place the requisite contractual arrangements so that further investigations can be completed and the remediation process can begin notwithstanding the fact that the issue of responsibility is ongoing, the determination of which will be secondary to the council’s commitment to getting the remediation work underway.”