HOUSING bosses have warned tenants to take out insurance after a faulty stoptap left a family's home flooded.

Asthmatic Joanne Coad today claimed her family's attempts to tidy up after the incident were thwarted when the house was filled with dust by workmen who turned up to install a damp proof course.

Smoker Joanne, 36, complained to Burnley and Padiham Community Housing about her former council house in Venice Avenue, Burnley, after she moved in with husband Dennis, 51, and their two daughters Kelly, 19, and Rosemarie, 16, seven months ago.

She said the final straw came this week when workmen arrived to carry out a damp proof course at the property.

Mrs Coad fumed: "I am asthmatic and so is my 16-year-old daughter. I asked them to move us out before the work was done because of my condition. It's not just me who has been affected by the dust and the fumes from the work though, my daughter is poorly and one of my cats has been sick.

"I had a really bad night last night as I couldn't breathe and I'm really depressed through it.

"There is dust everywhere and it is already damp because the stop tap flooded two weeks ago.

"Our suite was ruined, we have had to throw a washing machine and carpets out because they were damaged.

"And there is mould everywhere."

But Alan Tyral, spokesman for Burnley and Padiham Community Housing, which took over 5,200 homes from Burnley Borough Council two years ago, said: "A contractor arrived at the house on April 23. He received no resistance from the tenant and carried out a full day's work uninterrupted.

"A full risk assessment was conducted in consultation with the tenant at least three weeks prior to the work commencing to ensure a safe outcome -- advising her to ensure adequate ventilation and not to use a naked light as we understand the family smokes .

"As for the stop tap, I can only say this piece of equipment is usually fitted at a very low level, so we are unsure as to how it ruined a settee.

"We would also expect all tenants to have contents insurance cover.

"We regularly advertise it in the customer newsletter so people don't find themselves in this unfortunate position. As a guide, £9,000 of cover costs £1.35 per week -- which is much less than a packet of cigarettes."