Aborfield Barracks 'substandard'

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Aborfield Barracks 'substandard'

BBC Berkshire - Reading,Berkshire,UK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2007/01/05/barracks_f

eature.shtml

Following revelations in the news of poor living conditions in army

barracks, a soldier from Arborfield tells us how the standards at

his barracks are " quite unbearable " .

Bathroom tiles at Arborfield barracks

A soldier based at Arborfield Barracks, just outside Reading, told

BBC Berkshire of living with mould, mildew and no heating after

hearing the news that a senior army officer condemned the conditions

soldiers and their families have to live in.

" Nobody dares to use the baths and we've all been advised to wear

sandals in the showers and not take them off. "

The soldier, from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers,

doesn't want to be identified but says hundreds of soldiers at

Arborfield are living in terrible conditions.

He says the rooms are full of damp, plaster is falling off the walls

and bathrooms are full of mould.

Flaking ceiling at Arborfield barracks

" It's getting to the stage where it's quite unbearable, " he

says, " when the signs first show - that's the point where it should

be repaired, but it's just been allowed to go on so much that the

damp might take up most of the ceiling and mildew in the bathrooms

is spreading quite a lot. "

He adds: " Recently the heating hasn't been working. "

Bathroom mildew at Arborfield barracks

He says the faults have been reported but that nothing has been done.

" I think it's been put onto the computer system and then forgotten

about, " he says, adding that a lack of funding has been given as a

reason for the substandard accommodation which he's been living in

for over a year.

Bathroom taps at Arborfield barracks

It's got to the point where the poor conditions have become a health

hazard: " Nobody dares to use the baths and we've all been advised to

wear sandals in the showers and not take them off. "

A spokesman for Aborfield barracks wasn't available for comment but

an MoD spokesman told BBC Berkshire: " Armed forces personnel and the

families deserve good quality accommodation and the MoD is committed

to providing this.

" We acknowledge there are serious problems with SOME service

accommodation - and we are working very hard to deal with these -

but much of it IS of a good standard. "