A stunned woman turned a workman away from her door after learning he had travelled 60 miles from Aberdeen to carry out a job, despite the city being under fresh lockdown measures.
Natalie Sturrock, 37, a Sanctuary Housing tenant, answered the door to the man on Friday and was told he was there to upgrade her fire alarms, despite hers not being broken.
When she realised the worker was from Aberdeen – which is in lockdown due to a resurgence of Covid-19 cases – she told him to leave.
The Scottish Government’s five mile travel ban only applies to leisure and recreation, but Natalie still feels it was too risky to send someone so far.
Natalie, from Lochee, said: “I didn’t know they were coming. I didn’t feel comfortable. You shouldn’t be coming to Dundee and doing work in different people’s houses.
“How do we know he’s not been in contact with anybody with this virus?
“I don’t understand why they are sending workers from Aberdeen for these jobs.”
Natalie says she contacted the firm and was told that there were no local staff available who could carry out the work in Dundee.
She claims they also said an error had been made, which was why she was not informed someone would be attending her house.
Natalie added: “He’s going from my house to other people’s houses. I don’t have any health conditions but I have an elderly mum.
“What are Sanctuary’s procedures for testing employees? I don’t think this is right.
“Nicola Sturgeon is saying she is trying to contain the outbreak in Aberdeen. If we are not allowed to travel up there why are people from Aberdeen allowed to come to Dundee for non-essential work?”
However Sanctuary’s operations manager Alex Kerr said the work was essential.
He said: “We made an appointment to attend the tenant’s home and fit additional alarms, work required by the Scottish Housing Regulator.
“The tenant refused our operative access to her home when she learned he had travelled from Aberdeen.
“We wear PPE and socially distance during every visit so do not believe there was any risk to our tenant.
“We were, of course, happy to respect her wishes and will rearrange this important work to make her home safer.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government referred to their guidance which states that the five mile travel limit only applies to leisure and recreation.
