A mum says she is worried about her family despite specialist teams visiting her home three times to remove asbestos.

Maria Jones fears the material will lead to future health problems for herself, partner Jason, daughter Courtney, 13, Tyrone, eight, and Tommy-Lee, two.

The 36-year-old’s woes go back to August last year when she discovered the two boys playing with pieces of the fire retardant material in the garden.

She thought the youngsters were playing with bits of slate, but was horrified when she discovered the truth.

“I basically closed the garden down and I told the kids they couldn’t go out there any more because there’s poison out there" - Maria Jones

A workman doing landscaping work recognised the asbestos, which is toxic, and warned her to stop her children going anywhere near it.

Miss Jones, of Estuary Road, Sheerness, said: “I was so frightened. I took them straight indoors.

“I basically closed the garden down and I told the kids they couldn’t go out there any more because there’s poison out there.

“They’ve been frustrated and upset because they can’t play with any of their toys.”

Since the original discovery, her housing association has sent out two different asbestos removal contractors to her home.

Each of the three times they have visited they have removed numerous bags of the material from the property.

However, the full-time mum says there are still remnants in the garden which she says need removing as soon as possible.

Housing association Amicus Horizon said the risk of poisoning is low because the pieces are an asbestos containing material (ACM), not asbestos in its raw state.

Spokesman Ross Lidbetter said: “The health and safety of our residents is of the utmost importance.

“Asbestos cement is a low risk ACM as the harmful fibres are bound up within the cement and are not easy to release into the air.

“It’s the released fibre that can be breathed in that becomes a risk to health.

“But the fibres can only be released into the air by mechanical abrasion such as sanding or using a saw to cut it or drilling a hole with a power tool. Normal hand digging isn’t sufficient to release the fibres.

“Our contractors have been out twice in March 2014 and again in September [last year] to remove ACM.

“All the visible elements were removed, but anything buried will on occasion rise to the surface over time.”