A mum-of-five says her family faces spending Christmas apart after an outbreak of black mould forced her oldest son to leave their home.
Ange Wood, 42, said she had complained multiple times about leaks in her upstairs and downstairs bathrooms before discovering the mould behind her 18-year-old son's bed in August. The grim discovery led to the teenager, who suffers from a heart condition, being moved into his nan's house for the sake of his health.
Ange, who lives in Everton, said she hoped housing association Torus would fix the problem in time for Christmas – but after reporting the situation, the black stains in her son's room were simply painted over. A spokesperson for Torus said they have apologised for the delays and are working to keep their tenant informed on the progress.
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Ange said: "We've shown them the bathroom leaks. The upstairs bathroom leaks from the ceiling. Every time it rains it leaks on your head. When you use the shower, it leaks into the downstairs bathroom.
"It came to a head at the end of August when our oldest child found a mould patch behind his headboard. We cleared out the rest of his room and found the black mould on the floor. We rang the housing association and a plumber came out the first week in September, but he said he had to wait for a surveyor. Six weeks later, my son was still living at my mother-in-law's house.
"Unfortunately the surveyor came out and said he would get the work done. They just painted over the mould.
"The walls, the skirting board and my downstairs bathroom ceiling has been painted over. That's the only work they've done. Someone came out to seal the bath, but he only did one end of the bath and left. I had two workmen here yesterday and the roofer didn't even look at the roof."
Torus told the ECHO a new time would be made for a roofer to attend due to weather conditions.
"My son's already been out of the house for over three months, and he goes to university next year. After promising me he'd be home for Christmas, he won't be here at all. We're a very close-knit family and it's a massive blow to our Christmas plans.
"With Christmas and being a big family, it's so much to deal with. But it's also the mental health side. I've been complaining for three months and it's like they don't care. Nobody wants to do the job, and when they do come out I feel like I'm trying to pin them down to do the actual work. It's ridiculous.
"I phone them up but they don't really care. You get the apologies but apologies don't stop the leaks."
Torus group assets director, Margaret Goddard said: “We can confirm we have apologised to our tenant for any delays. With respect to the attendance of our roofer, as there was ice on the roof it would not be permitted for anyone to access the roof and we have arranged further attendance.
“Regarding other works mentioned, gaining access to the property has been an issue for our operatives and the reason for the request for a new bath is being investigated.
“The tenant is being kept updated on progress and further visits to the property have been arranged to resolve the matters raised to their satisfaction.”
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