Leigh Park widow wants to stay put and rejects Crookhorn flat in 1981

A 73-year-old Cosham man who lived in a caravan offered to hand over the chance of a new flat to a worried Leigh Park widow – but his ‘gift’ was not accepted.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Jan 2020, 11:43 BST
Updated 10th Jan 2020, 17:14 BST
Fredrick Leggett outside his caravan at Cliffdale site at Cosham.Fredrick Leggett outside his caravan at Cliffdale site at Cosham.
Fredrick Leggett outside his caravan at Cliffdale site at Cosham.

Frederick Leggett read in The News about the plight of 81-year-old Ada Martin. She was frightened to stay in her High Lawn Way council flat after it was ransacked by burglars a few days before Christmas.

For the previous four years she had been unable to bend down to light her fire, which also heated all the water in her boiler.

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Mrs Martin, who was married to England's oldest serving soldier of the Second World War, wanted to be rehoused in Portsmouth where she was born and daughters lived.

Mr Leggett spoke of the flat at Crookhorn: ‘She’s welcome to it. To get one near her family is going to be a devil of a job and the flat isn’t too far on the bus.’

But Portsmouth’s Director of Housing Services Ray Kirby said he appreciated the offer but Mrs Martin had not asked for a property at Crookhorn. She rejected the flat and had her heart set on Portsmouth.

Related topics:Portsmouth