A WOMAN has spoken of her gratitude after businesses installed a kitchen for free at her home after her previous one was destroyed in the Boxing Day floods.

Marie Healey, 52, has been in rented accommodation since the floods, which left her home submerged under 5ft of water.

Her kitchen was destroyed, and after insurers refused to pay out, she said she was “utterly devastated”.

After hearing about Ms Healey’s plight from the Bingley Flood Support Group, Rick Tonks, managing director of Simply Bathrooms and Kitchen, offered to fit a new kitchen for free.

They visited her home, in Castlefields Lane, Crossflatts, to measure up, and even offered Ms Healey a choice of colours.

The work was completed a fortnight ago, after months of waiting for the floorboards to dry out.

Mr Tonks said: “I contacted the support group and said we wanted to help someone who desperately needed it, and Marie fitted the bill.

“We fitted the kitchen, the Rotary Club donated a hob, oven, fridge-freezer and washing machine, and Tool Central helped with the plastering. In all, this job would usually cost between £10,000 and £12,000.”

Ms Healey, who works as a school teaching assistant, said she and her son, Jake, who has autism, are still in disbelief at the generosity of Mr Tonks, the Rotary Club and Tool Central.

She added: “Even when the work was going on, and now it’s finished, I can’t quite believe it.

"When they offered to help out I did not expect it at all. Our house finally feels like a home again. After the flood, it looked like a demolition site, and we are looking to be moved back in next week when the school holidays begin.

“After the flood, I couldn’t stop crying and my son was traumatised and was waving goodbye to the house, so when he saw the new kitchen he was quite amazed – he was just staring. Jake was taken aback, it was nice to see his face.

“They have not just rebuilt my kitchen, they have rebuilt my life, and I am truly grateful.”

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