By Brian Gomm

A GOOD-LIFE couple are still haunted by the luxury home which disappeared beneath their feet.

Journal readers will recall the Whitfields' tale of woe when their dream home on a two-acre patch of paradise sank in to the peaty bogland of Astley Moss.

Now, several months and an estimated £200,000-plus later, Terry and Janet Whitfield with their children Matthew, 10 and Rosie, 3, are living it up in their brand, spanking new replacement house.

But they are constantly reminded of last year's nightmare when their £120,000 custom-built home began to break up before their very eyes.

Those memories still haunt them -- for the listing, waterlogged hulk of their half-sunken old home is still there 10 feet away from their back door!

Janet, glad to be back with a tiled roof over her head after the family spent a year living in a caravan after the disaster, told The Journal: "We're enjoying life now but it's about time the old house was demolished, it is dangerous. It has sunk even more and looks as though there is a moat around it.

"The building is fenced off but we have not been able to let Rosie out to play alone.

"We took the opportunity to change a few things in the design of the new house, but it was a hard way to find out."

The Whitfields bought their two-acre Rose Farm smallholding in spring 1997 and lived in the original lightweight asbestos clad, timber-framed bungalow -- for years the home of the Boulton family -- while contractors built them a new nine-room, brick-built home a few yards away on a raft of reinforced concrete.

But a year after moving in at Christmas 1997 the Whitfields' world was in turmoil.

Plumber Terry recalled: "We could feel the building move.

"Bricks were snapping, huge cracks appeared in the walls and plaster started falling off. It was like an earthquake. I expected everything to crumble around us."

The Whitfields were forced to put their belongings in storage and moved into a caravan on their land. They could only watch helplessly as their dream home sank further and further into the brown mossland. Now, part-submerged in water and listing over, the old home is awaiting demolition.

Insurers Norwich Union have covered the cost of their replacement home which the Whitfields are assured won't sink!

"I'm confident of a happy future here. We are happy on the Moss and most of the neighbours are brilliant," said Terry.

The Whitfields' home wasn't their only loss during the upheaval. With workmen constantly on site, their perimeter fence was breached and two family pets -- a German Pointer and a German Shepherd Dog have gone missing.

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing dogs should contact The Journal editorial department on 01942 670669.