• CAMDEN Council seem to have gone crazy about fire regulations. I live in a council house in West Hampstead.

I have a two-bedroom flat and downstairs there’s a one-bedroom flat (A). They have treated this house like a block of flats as high fire risk, or nuclear zone!

They have put an electric fire alarm in the small, shared hallway, and that’s OK… But then they have put five in my flat: one in the hallway (my hallway); one in the kitchen (OK); two above stairs. And one in the front room. That’s five! Flat A must have four or five as well.

Then they have put big, extremely bright lights above the street door. And two of the same, extremely bright, in the shared hallway. The meter cupboard now has a combination lock on it – it’s high up. And a panel below in the corner of the hall has been replaced. But now with screws.

Then today, I got them back to put on a another coat of paint, which was needed. When all done, after lots of complaints I’ve mentioned, I thought, well it looks better – though I still don’t like the lights, etc. I was pleased it had finally been painted better.

But now I have come home to see there are now two big notices on the middle of the wall, which was a bit of a shock. First there’s a sign which reads: “No Smoking.” We don’t smoke. Second there is a “Fire Regulations Act” sign, screwed to the wall, that you see when you open the street door.

It used to be a nice little hallway, with a lampshade of our choice in the middle. Now it has two big ceiling lamps, extremely bright, that stay on for 10 minutes or so. The street door one used to stay on all night. But I got them to change it so it just comes on and off.

When on, you can see the house lit up from the bottom of the street – six houses away. They shine through the glass into the hallway and the hallway ones shine into the flat. Oh, fire doors to come! It’s not like a house hallway now. Been very stressed about all this.

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