A FURIOUS dad has told how he has been fighting for repairs to his family home for TEN years while his step-daughter battles a brain condition.

Andy McLeish says he has been battling North Ayrshire Council since 2012 for repairs to his damp-ridden villa in Largs' Kelvin Street.

Andy, is a lorry driver who travels all round Europe, while wife Lara, 46, is a full-time carer for Siobhan, 28, who was found to have a brain tumour when she was six, and as such has peripheral vision.

He told the News that he is concerned the impact the property is having on his family's health - and is calling on the matter to be urgently addressed.

He said: "I am sick and tired of complaining about this.

"I have been arguing back and forward with the council and telling them about the dampness but they refuse to admit it - they have said it is condensation.

"Siobhan had a brain tumour when she was six - she has a a heart of gold and is very creative and artistic - but a weak immune system and the slightest wee thing can maker her unwell."

Andy, 50, says he has has hit 'one barrier after another' in trying to solve the dampness problem in the household.

He explained: "The first time I had a council workman in and he saw the black marks in the corner and said that they were because of the sky TV cable going into the wall but I took him around the rest of the house, and showed him the black marks in all the other rooms.

"The council fitted an airflow system after I went to a local councillor, then they put in wetwall in the bathroom, but that just hid the dampness.

"There was water coming in through the window last year and they took the frame off. You could see black in bricks where they have rotted and disintegrated due to the dampness. It has been temporarily filed in with foam but I have been told that it won't be fixed till September."

Andy claims the council sent an inspector to assess the issue - but that he didn't have the relevant building experience.

He said: "It was like sending a drug counsellor who has no prior experience of drugs.

"There are so many cracks around the property and it is riddled with dampness, yet I keep being given excuses. When work is carried out, it is only temporary fixes which don't even do the job."

Andy said that the family have been offered a move to a different property but he says that are reluctant to shift having spent thousands of pounds of their own cash on the home, including a new back door and patio.

He said: "The council have bought some houses in our street and have spent a fortune on them but we can't get any meaningful help.

"We have spent a lot of money on our property over the years so why should we have to leave?

"It is dreadful to be waiting ten years for a problem like this to be addressed.

"We are paying a monthly rent and have been for many years yet the house is not fit for purpose? How can that be fair?

"They should not be taking rent from us if the building is not wind and water tight."

North Ayrshire Council have been contacted by the News for a response.