A CEILING collapsed on a 94-year-old woman just weeks after her flat was refurbished by the council.

Frail Winifred Boreham was showered with plaster which came crashing down as she settled down to eat her lunch.

She was left hospitalised and has now been moved into a residential home to recover from her ordeal.

Southampton City Council has launched an investigation to find out whether any of the 24 other residents in her housing block are now at risk from further collapses. Housing chiefs have trumpeted the success of work to modernise the sheltered housing scheme at Kinloss Court, Lordshill.

Mrs Boreham, who has lived in her flat for a decade, was only just coming to terms with her revamped flat after becoming confused by a council decision to switch her door number.

Her son Ron said: “She’s badly shaken and has been left with bruises and cuts to her head and hands. The whole ceiling just fell down on her. I’m appalled.’’ Elderly residents at the housing scheme were left in a muddle when the council decided to change door numbers to “minimise confusion in the future”.

Work to transform eight former bedsits into four one bedroom flats and create new two bedroom properties by knocking through existing flats left more than half a dozen redundant numbers.

So the council decided a complete renumbering exercise was required for the sake of neatness. It said all residents had been warned of the changes and there had been no objections.

A spokesman said plaster on Mrs Boreham’s ceiling had “blown” and on-site staff had come to her aid. The spokesman added an initial assessment found no other flats were at risk.