The mum of a young family claims they have been living with a major mould problem for more than two years.

Carly Wallbank, who has four children - two of them under the age of two - says her landlords wont do anything about the problem. 

The 26-year-old lives in a Sanctuary Housing flat in Haydon Court, with her children aged five, three, 21 months and two months.

Sanctuary Housing, which describes itself as one of the UK’s leading social landlords, said it is “committed to resolving the issue”, and has arranged for an inspection early next week.

But Carly says she has been told on several occasions over the past two years that the problem was going to be sorted and no one has come out to look at it.

She says that as a result of the mould, her children are “always getting so poorly with colds, coughs and poor chests”.

“The mould has got a lot worse since it started, to the point where it’s gone white and really furry looking. I’ve been bidding to get a house for two years but still haven’t got anywhere.

“I’m getting sick of the sight of it and sick of my kids always getting so poorly.”

She told the Advertiser that the problem is getting increasingly worse, despite her complaints, and that all the company seem to care about is “getting the rent and charging me for them to remove rubbish”.

She said: “The mould is moving from room to room, it makes me look dirty and filthy and I’m not, I’m constantly cleaning thinking ‘does this look clean enough around the mould’, and I shouldn’t have to live like that.

“I pay service charges for things like that to be sorted and it’s not getting sorted.”

As well as the mould, Miss Wall says there is also a hole in her roof where in the installation hasn’t been done properly, and that she also has rats in the loft "chewing and nibbling at all of my children’s toys and things I’m storing.”

She added: “I raised a concern about the rats in my loft in 2019 and all I got told [by Sanctuary Housing] was that it wasn’t their problem and I have to deal with pest control myself.

“Nobody seems to be helping me, it’s like I’m left here to live in this hell hole with no help whatsoever, it’s not fair on my kids. They need their own space.

“I have to throw their toys away because they have mould on and my children shouldn’t have to worry about that, I shouldn’t have to worry about that.”

A spokesperson for Sanctuary said: “We are committed to working with our tenant to resolve this issue and have attended the property on several occasions to carry out work including treating the mould.

“Another inspection has been arranged for early next week to assess additional ventilation options. We are sorry this has previously been delayed. We will also continue to offer the family support as they search for a new home.”