Is this the mouldiest council house in Milton Keynes?

A couple have described how they have not cooked a hot meal for months because everything in their kitchen is covered in black mould.

Three other rooms are also full of mould in the Shenley Church End mid terrace, and tenants Joanne and Paul Ridgway have been begging MK Council for six years to fix the problem.

"The house is actually uninhabitable because there is so much mould," said Joanne, who is 51.

"I suffer with asthma and my husband has COPD. He has had four chest infections in the last month alone and we're sure they're caused by the mould."

Over the years, Joanne says she has made hundreds of complaints to the council about her home, which is in Mansell Close.

"They have sent contractors Mears out dozens of times but, apart from replacing a wall in the living room, nothing has been done.

"We've followed all the advice about ventilation and I clean the mould off with bleach. But as fast as I clean it, it comes back."

The problem is so bad in the kitchen that the Ridgways have been unable to use it for months and live off cold food and salads prepared in the dining room.

"When you open the food cupboard, everything is wet. All our plates, dishes, pots and pans are black with mould and even my new £1,000 range cooker is so thick with mould inside that it can't be used... I paid a professional cleaner to clean it but he said nothing can be done - the cooker is ruined."

Joanne, who lives Shenley Church End and does not want to move, is begging the council to solve the problem for once and for all.

"The damp is coming in from outside of the house. The cement is the brickwork is so wet that it's all soft. The whole place needs to be stripped back to bare bricks and repaired," she said.

The Ridgways are particularly dreading Christmas this year.

"Last year we put all out presents under the tree but in no time they were soaking wet and mouldy. They were ruined," said Joanne.

The Citizen contact MK Council for a comment. A spokesman said: "“We’re aware of the issue and will be speaking to the tenant to resolve the matter”.