People forced to throw out their 'fire risk' doormats claim different rules were applied when they found out their housing provider delayed essential safety actions.

Last year tenants at Midhurst Court flats in Maidstone were asked by Golding Homes to remove their doormats areas amid safety concerns.

Resident Paul Gower was shocked by the policy and found out when a message was left outside his door.

But a report by the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) found Golding Homes left 100 high-risk actions from fire risk assessments undone for "a number of months."

Ground floor tenant, Raymond Gasson, 78, said: "It's a double standard, this block's not safe. They can't ask tenants to do something then totally ignore everything else."

"I've had water leaks during four years come through my ceiling and it takes such a time to get them repaired.

"In February I had the same thing happen again. Some people have looked at the ceiling but nobody has done anything about it."

Dave Brian, 47, has lived in the block for more than 20 years.

"I think it was silly to remove the doormats but I did it anyway. Last year my intercom stopped functioning when other work was being done to the building.

"The door release button doesn't work so I have to go down and let people in when the buzzer rings."

Golding Homes is required under by law to ensure electrical installations are in working and safe condition, but the RSH did not take any further action as it was assured Golding Homes was fixing the breach in standards.

Karl Hudson has lived in the apartment block for four years. He has a faulty plug socket behind his sofa. He says he has seen it spark and has reported the issue multiple times.

However, the 50 year old said: "I think Golding Homes is fantastic, I don't usually have a bad word to say but the fact it hasn't responded to me about this plug has really let it down. I've told them about it so many times since I moved in but still nothing has been done."

The Operations Director, from Golding Homes said: "Resident safety is our top priority, we have completed Fire Risk Assessments for all the blocks that require them and have already completed two thirds of the high priority fire actions mentioned in the regulators report. We are committed to addressing the remaining ones by the end of March.

"Midhurst Court has one outstanding priority fire action which is scheduled for completion this week. We understand residents have previously been frustrated by the request for them to remove doormats, but this is the same for all our communal areas where expert fire advice is to remove all combustible materials.

"We invited Kent Fire Rescue Service to Midhurst Court to check if it had any further advice. It was pleased with the progress we are making and our plan to complete this work."

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