Woman’s fury as council demand she removes doormat

An outraged woman filmed the moment three council workers knocked at her door during lockdown to threaten to confiscate her doormat if she failed to remove it. 

Rosa Edwards, from Romford, Essex, can be heard shouting at the Havering Council representatives as they walked away from her flat, branding them ‘absolutely disgusting’ in a viral video. 

Miss Edwards, who rents a one-bedroom studio flat from the council, said: ‘It’s outrageous. People are dying from Covid right now, and the council has sent out not one, but three staff to knock at my door to tell me I’ll be fined if I don’t remove my doormat.

‘Was that really an essential trip?’

Sharing the footage, she wrote: ‘I have no words! Why does ridiculous stuff like this always happen to me? I’m sure there are much better things they could be doing for people to help right now!’ 

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Miss Edwards, who rents a one-bedroom studio flat from the council, claims the reason the workers gave for removing the doormat (above) was because it was in a ‘communal area’

Rosa Edwards (pictured), from Romford, Essex, filmed the moment that three Havering Council workers knocked on her door during lockdown to threaten to confiscate her doormat

Rosa Edwards (pictured), from Romford, Essex, filmed the moment that three Havering Council workers knocked on her door during lockdown to threaten to confiscate her doormat

The footage sees Miss Edwards, who runs a business called Ruff Stuff Day Care for dogs, asking the three staff – two men and one women – to repeat why they had knocked on her door.

She can be heard saying: ‘Please tell me why you’ve knocked on my door again? I’ll tell you then.

‘These three have knocked on my door the one day they’ve released lockdown.

‘Look at where I live, I pay my rent, I have a one bedroom tiny studio flat, this is a communal area because two other people use it.

‘And I’ve just been told that if I don’t move this doormat from outside my own house, I’ll get fined or I’ll get my doormat confiscated from the council.’

The tenant claims three council workers were wearing masks when they knocked on her door but weren’t standing two metres apart from each other.

Miss Edwards says it’s ‘crazy’ how the council workers didn’t comment on the huge mound of rubbish in her front garden – but instead were worried about the doormat.

She also claims the workers told her they’d be knocking on her neighbour’s door to ask her to also remove her doormat from outside her front door.

But the self-employed dog walker claims the representatives had ‘no idea’ that her neighbour had died two weeks earlier.

‘They’ve come all the way out to tell me to move my doormat!

‘The woman next door – they want to knock on her door as well – and she’s dead.

‘She died two weeks ago and her whole family is in pieces and they are about to knock on her door and have a go at her about a doormat.’

Miss Edwards continued to slam Havering Council as she branded the situation ‘absolutely disgusting’.

She finished filming as the council workers walked away while she shouted: ‘You’re sending these people out, knocking on doors, for something like that.

In a viral video, Miss Edwards, who runs a business called Ruff Stuff Day Care for dogs, can be heard shouting at the Havering Council workers branding them 'absolutely disgusting'

In a viral video, Miss Edwards, who runs a business called Ruff Stuff Day Care for dogs, can be heard shouting at the Havering Council workers branding them ‘absolutely disgusting’

‘I hope they can sleep at night because that is absolutely disgusting.

‘Sort out the real problems please. Don’t be knocking on my door again!’

Miss Edwards says she posted the video on Facebook to highlight what the local area ‘are paying for’.

Miss Edwards’ work has been quiet due to the pandemic and while she used to work 8am-5pm every day, she now struggles to find work to last her until midday.

She says she hasn’t been able to earn ‘a lot of money’ so she did all the work she could on Wednesday before going home at lunchtime.

‘I am about two weeks behind on my rent at the moment because I am skint and so when I saw the council at the door, I thought it was because I had been struggling.

‘I answered the door without my phone, thinking it was about my rent, and then they said they wanted me to remove my doormat.

‘I was so shocked by what they were asking me to do so I said ‘”can you wait and let me grab my phone to film this?”‘.

‘I’ve got a big mound of rubbish in my front garden too which I’d love to get removed but it’s going to cost me around £150 – which of course I don’t have at the moment. 

Miss Edwards says it's 'crazy' how the council workers didn't comment on the huge mound of rubbish in her front garden (pictured), which she said will cost her £150 to get removed

Miss Edwards says it’s ‘crazy’ how the council workers didn’t comment on the huge mound of rubbish in her front garden (pictured), which she said will cost her £150 to get removed

‘But it’s funny how they didn’t mention that, they just wanted to know about the doormat!

‘I think there’s a lot more they could be doing with their time to look after their tenants.’

Miss Edwards claims the reason the council workers gave for needing her to remove the doormat was because she lived in a ‘communal area’.

However she claims people do not pass her door ‘whatsoever’.

She refused to remove the doormat and claims the representatives told her they’d be back to check.

She says: ‘There were three of them there to tell me that – is this really what we’re paying for?

‘Also the amount of people that have commented on my post and said they’ve had shoes taken from outside their homes and kids bikes taken from outside their houses – all by the council.

‘There were so many people saying this had also happened to them.’

Facebook users rushed to the comment section of Rosa’s post to support her.

One user wrote: ‘Omg I’ve seen it all now, completely agree with you, absolutely disgusting sending 3 people out for bloody doormats!!!!!! Havering Council need showing up about this 100%.’

While another shared: ‘What a waste of time and money!’

A third commented: ‘Omg. What an embarrassment the council are – our tax money pays for this!’

The tenant (pictured) claims three council workers were wearing masks when they knocked on her door but weren't standing two metres apart from her or each other

The tenant (pictured) claims three council workers were wearing masks when they knocked on her door but weren’t standing two metres apart from her or each other

Rosa says: ‘When I refused to move it, they actually said they’ll come back and keep checking my house.

‘For somebody with anxiety, I actually don’t like people knocking on the door unless I’m expecting them, so that wasn’t nice.

‘I did phone the council and complained as soon as they left. The main reason I called was to confirm that those people had been sent out to do the job they were telling me.

‘They had council badges and I’m sure they were the council, but there’s a lot of dodgy stuff in the world so I was worried they could have printed out badges and were checking out my house.

‘But I got no confirmation and just had my complaint lodged.’

Miss Edwards said she didn’t think it was a ‘normal thing’ for the local council to worry about or spend time on.

She claims she lodged a complaint and was told she would get an email response in the next 10 days.

However the tenant is ‘standing her ground’ and refusing to remove the doormat so she has now ‘glued’ it to her doorstep.

A Havering Council spokesperson said: ‘In order to keep people safe, just like many other Councils – we have a zero-tolerance policy to personal items being left in communal areas, which is clearly shown in the tenancy agreement all of our tenants sign. 

‘This includes door mats, plant pots, and larger items such as bicycles – all of which could pose a serious trip hazard to tenants as well as emergency service personnel.’