A contractor was sacked after he took and shared footage of 'laughable' work that had been carried out on a new housing site he was working on.
Self-employed machine operator Keith Barker shared videos of a worker laughing as they attempted to hold a spirit level up to what appears to be a very wonky wall.
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A photo Barker took showed uneven brickwork on the new-build Persimmon Homes' Lodmoor Sands development in Weymouth, Dorset, where the houses cost upwards of £190,000 ($259,000).
Barker was working for a company contracted to carry out the groundworks on the site when he shared the images on social media.
Barker said: "I've never seen brickwork that bad before. The bloke in charge of the bricklayers told me they're just under a lot of pressure to hurry up and get the job done, which I think is a major cause of it."
But within days of posting, the site manager contacted Barker and told he could no longer work at the site.
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According to the Persimmon website, there are around 110 plots for houses and flats on the Lodmoor Sands development.
Barker says he also snapped photos of uneven window ledges at different properties and says the garage wall of the property he filmed and photographed along with the wall of another house he photographed on the same day are among the worst examples he's seen.
He said: "In all seriousness, I think it's disgraceful they can sell the houses looking like that for what people pay, some I think start at £190,000.
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"You'd expect decent work, some of the lead flashing is disgraceful as well and ridge tiles aren't even straight. You can see so many things that just aren't right.
"It's down to rushed workmanship, that's the idea I'm getting from the guys on the ground."
He added: "This needs to be put out there for the customers. People who are out there buying their first house, then having problems later down the line, it just isn't fair on them."
A spokesman for Persimmon Homes South Coast said: "The photos - taken last year - depict work in progress on unoccupied houses on an active building site. Before completion our houses go through multiple checking stages, including with customers personally, to address issues of concern."
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Barker says he was approached by the site manager on 22 January and told he was being let go after posting images and video on a Facebook group.
Barker says the conversation remain 'civil' but claims that when he mentioned the quality of the brickwork the manager asked 'what's it got to do with you?'
"I'm a bit upset about it," Barker added. "But it goes to show how they're prepared to bury it under the carpet.
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"They don't want me there because I was making a scene by mentioning this to people, who were agreeing with me that the brickwork was shocking. I just had to take a step further by putting it onto the Persimmons site, which they didn't like."
A Persimmon Homes spokesperson said: "The individual concerned was a sub-contractor and not a Persimmon employee. As such they are subject to the contractor's disciplinary procedures and rules."
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Topics: UK News