Mum of disabled children says living in mouldy council house is 'like living in hell'

• Watch Sophie Wiggins' report for ITV News Anglia

A mum-of-four said she feels like she is "living in hell", as black mould has forced her to put three of her children in one room to try and keep them safe.

Natalie Draper, her partner Ashley, and their children - who all have complex needs - live in Houghton Regis in a house owned by Central Bedfordshire Council.

There is black mould on the ceilings, walls and windowsills, and inside cupboards.

Miss Draper believes it has affected her whole family, but mostly her disabled nine-year-old daughter Jacci, who developed a persistent cough after sleeping in a mouldy bedroom.

The council has apologised for its response and said it would rectify the situation.

Miss Draper told ITV Anglia that the issues with mould and damp were apparent when she and her family first moved in in 2018, and that despite regular complaints to the council, very little has been done.

She said: "I just want to be able to bath my baby without him getting ill.

"Nine times out of ten I'm crying myself to sleep.

"I'm waking up and I'm thinking: 'Right, another day in hell.'

"And because I'm home educating three children, they're having to see me depressed and down, feeling that nobody's listening.

"They're seeing it for themselves. And they keep looking at me and they say 'Mummy, are you okay?'"

Three of Miss Draper's children are now sharing a bedroom after other rooms in the house became uninhabitable, and mould ruined clothes and furniture.

In February last year, things got worse when a leak was found in the loft.

She said: "You can smell the rotting wood, the rotting plaster, you can smell the actual limestone in the brickwork with the has got the mould inside the brickwork as well."

When ITV News Anglia contacted Central Bedfordshire Council, the council sent a surveyor to the house within hours.

The authority also admitted it had been slow to make repairs.

A spokesperson said: "Our service has fallen short of what our tenants should expect, and we'd like to apologise to Miss Draper and her family.

"As a matter of urgency, we have arranged for the most urgent outstanding repairs to be completed.

"We sincerely apologise for the worry that this has caused, and we will keep in regular contact while we put this right."

Miss Draper and her family will be moved into temporary accommodation while major work is completed on the house.

She said: "I suppose this is a positive outcome, but at the same time, it's taken for this to happen, for them to do something.

"If they can leave us like it now, knowing our medical health conditions then what about other families that could be in an even worse situation than me?"

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