Mould returns to family home for fourth time

Patricia Smith, 63, and her husband have lived in the flat in Kingsland Court for 15 years and have never experienced any problems with the walls being damp or mould growing - until last year.

Since then it has been cleaned away by the council, only for it to resurface soon after, it reappeared for the fourth time on Saturday.

Shannon Smith, 20, Patricia’s daughter, noticed the mould and damp on the walls of the bedroom that she stays in with her son at the weekends. She said: “We contacted BTS (Building Technical Services) at the council on Saturday to ask them to come and get rid of the mould but they said they could not come out till next week, I think that is disgusting.

“My mum has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which means she has breathing difficulties and the damp and mould is really affecting her. It is the room that me and my son stay in when we stay there at weekends, I can’t have him sleeping in there like that, it has even gone onto the mattress.

“The last three times it happened my dad had to redecorate because of the mess the damp and mould had caused. My mum had to rip her carpet up and throw away her mattress, this is costing us money and we shouldn’t have to be paying for this problem when it is not our fault. This is now the fourth time and we have had enough.”

Mrs Smith wants the council to get rid of the damp and mould permanently, she said: “I want them to actually get rid of it for good this time, I do not want it to return again. It is not fair that we have to pay out because they can not do their jobs properly, we are sick of it.”

A council spokesperson said: “The council has agreed to visit the property this week when a full inspection will take place to determine the cause of the issue and ways to resolve it.”