A MOTHER-of-three says she has been battling for three years to sort out her “extremely” mouldy council flat.

Charlotte Gilder, 32, said black mould had spread in different parts of her home in Meeching Court, Newhaven, and is damaging her children’s health.

She said her eldest daughter, Lara, ten, had to take time off school as she suffers from asthma.

And her other two children, Genie, three, and Willow, one, have been coughing a lot, she said.

“I have been living with extreme damp but I had been told it was condensation previously,” she said.

“In December, a housing surveyor confirmed it wasn’t condensation but it was penetrative damp caused by a badly blocked gutter. The mould is in the lounge, the bathroom and in my daughter’s bedroom – and there is water dripping where she sleeps.

“I have asked the council if we can move. The gutter is at the top of this four-storey block, and we live on the fourth floor. The water can’t get out so it’s seeping through the walls.”

Mrs Gilder said she sent doctor’s notes to Lewes District Council in March 2017 to show that the mould was making her daughter ill.

She said: “The council had ignored all the doctor’s notes because they said it was condensation. Now they have confirmed it is not, but they are still not doing anything of any urgency to help the situation.

“They told me it’s a ‘non-medical priority’. The council has put in trickle vents through the window but having them open makes the flat cold. The damp has ruined our pictures on the wall, out router and our mobile phones which were placed near the window sill.

“At the time we didn’t know the water was leaking there. It’s like living in a shed and there are silverfish in the flat.

“I try to make the flat as nice as possible for the children. I keep redecorating the walls, which costs about £100 every time because I need to buy paint and anti-mould paint. The council said they are coming in late January to clean the mould.

“While the council has responded, it shouldn’t have taken this long. I just want to highlight the fact that we’ve been made to live in such conditions for a long time.”

Lewes District Council said: “We inspected the property in late December in response to an email from Mrs Gilder and following that, a contractor was booked to clear the guttering on Tuesday and undertake any necessary repairs.

“A ventilation specialist will be conducting a further survey of the property over the next two weeks. We are reviewing all information, including the medical letters, for the transfer request and we will inform the customer of the outcome.”