A young mum-of-two says she has been left in despair at a mystery mould constantly invading her flat.

Amy Metcalfe says the health of her two toddlers is being affected and was horrified to find the black spores under one of the children’s beds.

The fungus keeps creeping back even though she keeps cleaning it off and says she is constantly opening windows for ventilation. The mum is now blaming her son developing asthma on the issues in her home.

She explains that even her council landords have struggled to solve the problem, despite regularly inspecting and cleaning the flat.

Miss Metcalfe, 20, from the Meadowsweet House flats in Hackfield, Ashford, said: “A few days after they clear the mould it comes back.

“The worst affected room is the children’s bedroom and my son has already been diagnosed with asthma.

“I don’t know what is causing this but I know I’m not the only one – everyone gets it on the block.

“The council needs to find a long term solution.”

Miss Metcalfe, a 20-year-old single mum, moved to he property as a council tenant in January 2022 with her son Jimmy, aged two-and-a-half, and daughter Macie who is one-and-a-half.

Soon afterwards they noticed the spores appearing.

Miss Metcalfe explains all rooms in the two-bedroom flat are affected by the damp but the worst is the children’s bedroom.

Only on Wednesday, she pulled out Macie’s under-bed drawer and found a huge mass of mould underneath it.

Miss Metcalfe said: “The walls of that bedroom are soaked and the window is dripping.

“Jimmy has already been diagnosed wih asthma and the conditions are making the kids quite poorly.

“They regularly wake up bunged up, sound chesty and quite often get colds.”

The problem persists even though Miss Metcalfe opens the windows every morning to keep the property ventilated, uses a dehumidifier and also the heating to keep the premises dry.

In the last seven to eight months workers for Ashford Borough Council have twice inspected the premises and twice cleaned it of the mould but the problem persists.

Miss Metcalfe has also regularly cleaned the place herself.

A council spokesman said: “Following the recent property inspections at this home, we instructed our repairs contractor to treat mould growth within the property.

“We have asked the specialist contractor to expedite their work so that we can resolve the issues there as soon as possible...”

“We also commissioned a specialist ventilation contractor, to survey the property and identify any underlying problems and identify solutions.

“We have asked the specialist contractor to expedite their work so that we can resolve the issues there as soon as possible.”

The council has a dedicated webpage to help tenants who believe they have a damp and mould problem with their home – for more information see here.

ABC says it will “investigate any reports and make sure that the issue is not caused by a defect with the property”.

A national review announced in December by the government promised every housing association property would be checked for issues.

The Better Social Housing Review called for housing associations to conduct and publish a “thorough audit” of all social homes across England.

The independent report said poor quality social housing affects “too many” tenants, with damp, mould and condensation “the most prevalent and long-standing concerns”.