WORRIED parents have been asking for their leaking guttering to be repaired for a year to stop water seeping into their children’s bedrooms.

Louise Williams, 29, is seven months pregnant and already has two young children with husband Mark, 31.

Their council house, in Clickett Side, Basildon, has had badly leaking gutter pipes and rotten surrounding fascia boards since they moved in last summer.

Mrs Williams claimed they have been pleading with St Georges Community Housing, which manages housing for Basildon Council, to replace the drains and boards, which contain asbestos, for the past year.

Water regularly leaks into the bedrooms of four-year-old Callum and two-year-old Jessica, creating damp conditions.

St Georges finally put up scaffolding to do the work five weeks ago. On Friday staff removed most of the boards around the guttering.

They did not replace the boards, and the family claim this has left water leaking even faster than usual into the bedrooms.

Mr Williams said: “It’s like leaving the door open when it’s raining.

“I don’t know why it’s taken St Georges so long to do the work, but no one seems to communicate between the different departments.”

Mrs Williams said: “I think it’s disgraceful the way we’ve been treated.

“The water has been leaking through for the past year and you worry what effect the damp will have on your children’s health.”

A spokeswoman for St Georges Community Housing said it was aware of the issue and had put up scaffolding in August in order to carry out an asbestos test.

She added: “Asbestos has now been removed.

“Further arrangements have been made for September 21 to complete the work.”

l The Echo is highlighting problems with social housing across the district as part of our Stop the Rot campaign. Tenants can call our hotline on 01268 469337.