A COUNCIL resident asked to move home to make way for redevelopment claims the move ended in chaos and trauma because of "a trail of destruction left by workmen".

Wendy Woods and her family were asked to leave their home in Laurel Avenue, Newton-le-Willows by St Helens Council so that houses on the estate could be knocked down to allow for redevelopment in the area.

But she says they weren't prerpared for the shock that would greet them when they moved into their newly-decorated house in Belvedere Road.

Wendy says she had been told only a few days before she was due to move that workmen would transfer the central heating system from her old house to the new one in time for their arrival. But when she got there, contractors were still working in her new home and, she claims, they were greeted by a scene of utter chaos.

"The whole house was such a mess and there wasn't any hot water or heating. The carpets and lino we'd just fitted were damaged and there was a hole in the kitchen wall through to the garden. I couldn't even use the cooker that had just been fitted because there was a boiler in the way".

Wendy claimed the situation was so bad that her 17-year-old daughter, Jennifer, an asthma sufferer, was forced to stay at a neighbour's house in case the conditions in their own home brought on an attack. And to make matters worse, Jennifer injured her wrist while carrying a ladder after workmen had locked the family out of the house and later had treatment at Whiston Hospital.

Wendy added: "I don't know how we have managed to cope with all this and I am sure that if an elderly person had been faced with the problems we have they wouldn't have survived".

However, a spokesperson for St Helens Council said: "Workmen transferred the central heating system from Mrs Woods' old house as quickly as they could and Mrs Woods and her family were only without central heating for several hours. The council feels that the work could not have been done any quicker than it was, given the complexity of the situation".