A woman died after falling from her sixth-floor balcony while clearing a blocked drain pipe, an inquest heard.

The coroner has urged Hackney Council to take action following the death of Sarah McGreevy, 37, who was believed to have worked as a fashion designer, on June 16.

He suffered fatal injuries when he accidentally fell from the balcony of his east side apartment. London Around 9:40 in the morning, after climbing on a wooden box to clean the pipe, the investigation was revealed, which ended on Wednesday.

Sarah Bourke, deputy coroner for inner north London, wrote in a future death prevention report that a similar incident could occur if the council, which owns the premises outright, does not take action.

According to the report, police were told that residents on the fifth and sixth floors of the housing block went up to their balconies to manually unblock the pipes, especially after heavy rain.

Officers responding to the scene found a wooden box on Ms McGreevy’s balcony and her mobile phone on a window sill near the drainpipe, which had previously been repaired with “heavy duty tape”.

Photographs taken of Ms McGreevy’s hands showed dirt around her fingernails “consistent with the performance of a cleaning task”.

“I found that Ms McGreevy had most likely climbed onto the wooden box to clean the pipe and accidentally fallen off the balcony,” Ms Bourke said.

“In the absence of sanitation works, the practice of residents themselves unblocking pipes is likely to continue.

“In my opinion, steps must be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and your organization have the power to take those steps.”

Hackney Council must respond to the report by January 1 next year.

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A council spokesperson said: “This is a tragic case and our thoughts are with the friends and family of Sarah McGreevy.

“The coroner has detailed a number of issues that we must consider in her report on preventing future deaths.

“We do not expect anyone living in a Hackney Council home to clean their own gutters and, like the coroner, we want to ensure that an incident like this does not happen again.

“We will carefully review your report and respond as quickly as possible.”