A worried mum fears her damp-ridden council flat is making her baby ill – and wants the entire building to be torn down.

Courtney Fenton says she cleans her home at Elizabeth Court in Queen Street, Herne Bay, every day – but the mould keeps coming back “10 times worse”.

An NHS health visitor has written to Canterbury City Council, urging housing bosses to move Miss Fenton and baby Beau out of the block, where they have lived since last October.

But so far no alternative accommodation has been found, despite mould appearing on the 10-month-old boy’s clothes, cot and toys.

The city council told KentOnline it has been working to support Miss Fenton, including offering advice on ventilating the property and replacing a storage heater.

Miss Fenton says Beau has suffered from bronchitis, croup and throat infections while living at Elizabeth Court and has been taken to A&E multiple times.

The 20-year-old mum-of-one, who has asthma, told KentOnline: “It’s just not safe and nobody seems to want to listen or care – but our lives are at risk being here.

“I clean the flat every day, yet it comes back. It was OK in the summer but now the weather has changed it has got so much worse.

“I’ve turned to everyone for help but I just can’t get anyone to listen despite the health visitor telling us it’s not safe for us to be here.

“It’s not safe for anyone to be here. This building is not fit for purpose and needs to be brought down.”

Despite regular cleaning and ventilation, clusters of mould continue to emerge – including behind Miss Fenton’s bed, in the kitchen and along the skirting boards in the living room.

She has temporarily left the flat on multiple occasions to reduce their exposure to the damp but has yet to find a long-term solution.

The family’s health visitor wrote to the council in November, telling the authority that Beau “needs a dry, warm, well-ventilated home to live in to reduce the risks to his health”.

However, the neighbourhood management team at the council told Miss Fenton they could not move her. They suggested she register with the HomeSwapper service to see if a mutual exchange with another council tenant is possible.

Meanwhile, the housing advice team informed the full-time mum in August that she was unable to join the housing needs register. They said this was because she had been at Elizabeth Court less than a year and her circumstances had not changed in that period.

Miss Fenton, who also suffers from depression and has ADHD, says the mould has “completely ruined” a wardrobe in the flat and the items in it.

“I wash clothes and they just come straight out of the machine smelling of damp,” she said.

“It’s gone on Beau’s clothes, his crib, his toys and I simply can’t afford to replace them all.

“Being here is getting me so down. It’s so draining waking up each day trying to stop Beau from touching the mould which I just cannot contain.

“You clean it and it comes back 10 times worse. It’s just been nothing but problems.”

Other residents – who asked not to be named out of fear of being reprimanded – told KentOnline that the mould issue is widespread throughout the block.

Many inhabitants said they use storage heaters due to their radiators not working.

Miss Fenton added: “I’m not asking for much. We just need somewhere that isn’t literally suffocating us.”

A Canterbury City Council spokesman said: "We have been working to support the tenant including offering advice on ventilating her property and have previously replaced a storage heater when she approached us.

"There has been no recent interaction with the tenant about issues at her home and we would strongly encourage her, or any other tenant at Elizabeth Court concerned about damp, to contact us as soon as possible."