ANGRY Zoe Jones fears that her Penhill home may be sinking.

She says it has been beset by cracked walls, rising damp, mouldy floors and other problems since she moved into the block of flats on Leigh Road two years ago.

Maintenance work has been carried out several times but the problems have persisted and Zoe worries that the property is not structurally sound.

She said: “I feel like giving up at this point. It’s just fight after fight with this property, it’s so frustrating.

“For the first six months I lived here, I couldn’t even use the bedroom because the carpet was soaking wet - it ruined the furniture.

“Water keeps coming up through the floor. I’ve had to replace the bedroom floor three times and the hallway floor twice and it’s still uneven.

“The windowsills have dropped and there’s a gap between the sill and the window that lets in a strong breeze. Half of the windows don’t even open any more.

“I’m a single parent with fibromyalgia, I’ve had several chest infections from the cold and the damp, and mentally I’m really struggling.

“This house is 60 years old and I don’t think it’s been brought up to date with modern safety standards.

“My neighbours have come to me with similar problems because I’m a Penhill street rep, we are terrified. It’s a nightmare.

“I’ve had seven inspections and they always mention that there’s an issue with the foundations, then they go back to their office and nothing happens.

“I can’t afford to move out, if I could I’d be long gone by now.”

Zoe has repeatedly contacted members of Swindon Borough Council’s housing department and spoken to North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson in an effort it sorted once and for all. But she says in some cases, attempts to repair her flat appear to have made things worse.

Zoe said: “In January, someone came out to fix the huge cracks in my hallway’s floor by pouring concrete into them.

“Now the parts that were filled are rising and splitting, creating even more cracks than there were before and now there are big lumps in the floor of my hallway and they can’t put lino over it.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “We take the welfare of all our tenants really seriously and will carry out any necessary repairs to their homes.

“In this case, a number of repairs were carried out on Ms Jones’ property following our inspection in October last year.

“The only outstanding repair is to the hallway floor, which has been measured up and should be completed shortly.

“No structural problems were identified by our surveyors when they visited just over three months ago, however, we will carry out a further inspection to reassure Ms Jones and arrange for any further repairs, as necessary.”