A tenant has filed a formal complaint after Camden Council accidentally sent her an insulting email. 

The email was sent by Robert Quaye, the council’s "senior tenant participation officer”, to Mandy Ryan, from the Chalcots estate. 

Mrs Ryan, secretary of the Tenant Representatives Association (TRA) for the Dorney tower block, has been a leading voice in the campaign for safety improvements on the estate. 

In 2017, in the wake of the Grenfell disaster, residents were forced to evacuate their homes on the estate in Swiss Cottage for weeks, after experts discovered a raft of fire hazards. 

Remediation works are still ongoing and the bill will likely exceed £100m. 

On November 16, Mrs Ryan was accidentally copied in on an email from Mr Quaye to another officer, who wanted contact details for the Dorney TRA. 

“Mandy Ryan (Secretary) is the best person to speak to,” he wrote. “Note: Mandy is not an easy person.” 

Mrs Ryan told the Ham&High: “I don’t know what he means by that.

“I’ve only met him on one occasion, two years ago when we had our AGM. He was just the Camden official there. I’ve never been on Zoom with him or anything.” 

Around an hour after receiving the email, Mrs Ryan received a notice that Mr Quaye had tried to recall it. 

After filing a formal complaint, she received a response from Graeme Beedham, Camden’s “head of tenant and leaseholder engagement”. 

“I was very disappointed to read what Robert has written and I am very sorry,” he wrote. 

“I appreciate that this must have been very upsetting for you to read.” 

He insisted the remark did not reflect the council’s attitude towards the Chalcots TRAs. 

It is the second time Chalcots residents have been exposed to comments which officials thought were being made in private. 

In 2020, an officer, unaware that residents could hear her chatting before an online meeting, described safety concerns about the estate as “boring” and “same old, same old”. 

Asked about the latest incident, Camden Council said: “We have apologised to Mrs Ryan for the language used in the email. 

“Her complaint will be investigated and dealt with according to our usual procedures.” 

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