A mum-of-three has described her family’s nightmare after being left trapped for two years in a “home from hell” riddled with toxic mould and rotting ceilings.

Lucy Anne Howes, from Canterbury, was left fearing a wall could collapse at any moment as the house developed gaping structural cracks due to subsidence.

It led to the walls becoming unsteady and her house having a constant draught.

The 39-year-old, who suffers from asthma along with her 14-year-old son, says the impact of living at the run-down rented property left her at breaking point.

“We’re living in a house that is breaking away bit by bit, which is scary because a wall could just collapse at any moment,” she said.

“It’s also riddled with black mould, and we can’t open some of the windows because they could fall out, which is a nightmare for my son who gets wheezy with his asthma.

“There are huge cracks which allow the cold to come in freely, so we have to sit in blankets because the heater doesn’t do anything.

“I’ve racked up £400 in energy debt trying to heat the home for my kids. It got so cold, we even had to bring the dogs to bed because they were freezing.

“Your house is supposed to be a safe space, but me and my kids are far from safe here. I sometimes feel like I’ve failed as a mother making them endure this.”

Lucy, who works as a hotel cleaner, says her house is so bad she avoids inviting people over and is also careful when preparing food in case crumbling bits of debris from the ceiling drop onto her cooker.

She added: “My children are losing out on their childhood because the house is too embarrassing and not safe enough to have their friends over.

“We have a damaged gas pipe outside the house, which could burst at any moment and send the house into flames. These are the things that keep me up at night.

“I see hotel guests checking in to their warm rooms at work and then I come home to the complete opposite.

“Sometimes I think it’s better to stay outside than come back to face the reality.”

After months of waiting for the worst to happen, Lucy decided to involve lawyers in September last year and her case was taken on by housing disrepair firm, Veritas Solicitors.

The case settled out of court after six months and resulted in net damages of £11,791.67 to be paid by Canterbury City Council.

Lucy, who is now waiting to be rehoused, added: “It’s disgusting that we’re still having to live here. Our health is deteriorating every day we’re left in this place.

“My daughter has hypermobility so the cold is not great for her joints either and, although I can’t wait to get out of this house, I now have to think about whether she can do the longer walking commute to school.”

Canterbury City Council spokesman Rob Davies says there are “significant problems with subsidence” at Ms Howes’ home.

"We have been working closely with her to find her a permanent new home, and one has now been identified,” he said.

“We remain in regular contact with her about the arrangements to make this happen.

"Ms Howes has been unhappy at how we dealt with her complaint and pursued a housing disrepair case specifically on the subsidence issue, which we settled out of court.

“We apologised to her at the time and publicly reiterate that apology again today.

"We have reviewed the case to look at what went wrong and will be taking steps to ensure we learn from these points."