�Residents say a �1.4million project to improve council-owned homes is going drastically wrong.

People living in houses undergoing work in Edenhall Close, Harold Hill, say the renovation work is a “nightmare”.

Falling rubble, leaking roofs, wrongly-fitted locks, broken windows, removed satellite dishes and abandoned tools have been reported.

Delays

Building work started in January as part of a borough-wide project to bring council properties up to the national Decent Homes Standard.

The renovation was expected to take two-and-a-half weeks but is not yet finished.

Helen Evans, of number eight, said she wants the work to be over.

She said: “One day the builders left two Stanley knife blades in my garden and my partner found our five-year-old daughter playing with them.

“It’s lucky there wasn’t more damage. My son is autistic and has ADHD and he’s very distressed by all the building.”

To improve insulation builders attempted to replace windows and repair the roof.

But residents were allegedly left with leaks and draughts when the work went wrong.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: “They left tiles off the roof when it was raining and I had brown stains on my walls and bubbles on the ceiling.

“The repairs needed doing but they’re just being botched up.”

She said her disabled elderly neighbour was left with a door that opened from the outside for a week after builders inserted a lock incorrectly.

About 90 houses are due to be refurbished this financial year and another 96 in 2012/13.

Homes in Havering have apologised for the “issues” experienced by residents in Edenhall Close and Road.

A spokesman said the delay was due to poor weather and unforeseen work on roofs. He added: “We have worked closely with our contractors to investigate the issues raised.

Apologies

“We have instructed them to change their site management procedures and have adjusted our supervision and monitoring to make sure this does not happen again.

“Homes in Havering and its contractors acknowledge that there have been particular issues which have caused concern and that we have fallen short of the standards residents expect from us.”

Homes in Havering is meeting individual residents to address their concerns and the work is expected to be completed by the end of June.