A mum-of-four has accused her social landlord of failing to act when condensation and mould took over her Midsomer Norton house.

Jade Sheppard said the property had been "destroyed" by the previous tenants but she and her husband Ricki Blacker had spent months turning it into a home for their two daughters and two disabled sons.

All their hard work did not last long and in November the wallpaper started peeling off and black mould built up, despite their best efforts to clean it.

Mrs Sheppard, 29, said her home off Chilcompton Road was already "freezing" and claimed the only solution Curo offered was a "fan to blow in cold air".

She said: "We have significant mould and condensation because there's five of us and the dog. We only moved in last October.

"The previous tenants completely destroyed the house. There were holes in the walls we had to patch up. We needed new front and back doors.

"The vents on all the windows had been torn off. Curo said they were fine and wouldn't need replacing until 2030. They have mould all down the windowsills.

"We've worked so hard to make it a lovely home. It's just been obliterated. We redecorated my children's rooms, now we have to redecorate them.

"Curo said the only option was to get a ceiling fan blowing in cold air. My home is already cold. You feel it as soon as you go up the stairs. The bed sheets are damp and cold.

"My kids are asthmatic. The cold air is only going to make it worse.

"It's a property to Curo but this is our home. We've worked so hard to make it lovely. There's no compassion from Curo about what's happened."

Mrs Sheppard said she had emails from the social landlord "blaming us for basically living and breathing for the condensation problem".

A spokesperson for Curo said: "As a social landlord, we wouldn't want to see anyone having to live with condensation and mould.

"Mrs Sheppard reported the issue to us on 12th November and we attended her home on 25th November to understand the cause and find a solution. There is no previous history of damp or mould at the property and our inspection showed there are no structural issues that could have caused this problem.

"We recommended that better ventilation is required to prevent condensation which we believe to be the cause of the mould. To assist with this, we offered to install a positive input ventilation (PIV) device. Mrs Sheppard has now agreed to allow us to install the PIV and we'll carry out the work in January. We've also booked an appointment on the January 5 to double-check the window trickle vents, seal, handles and locks and we will fix any issues we may find.

"Mrs Sheppard and her family moved to this property via mutual exchange. This type of agreement enables social housing tenants to swap homes by exchanging tenancies, taking on any responsibilities previously agreed by the original tenant.

"Mrs Sheppard's garden is an unusual set up, made up of two parts which are separated by a public footway. The garden directly adjacent to her home is fenced and can be used by her children to play in, while the one across the public footway is not and was used by the previous tenant as a driveway. Mrs Sheppard accepted this arrangement, as well as responsibility for the fencing, when she agreed the mutual exchange.

"We're sorry that Mrs Sheppard feels she wasn't treated with compassion when she raised these issues and we sincerely apologise for this. We'll continue to work with Mrs Sheppard and her family to resolve the condensation and mould problems."