A leading member of North West Leicestershire District Council questioned the Council's Tory Administration about damp and mould in Council housing at this week's Cabinet meeting.

Cllr Sean Sheahan was behind a critical report into the Council's housing repairs service in March.

The Council Cabinet endorsed a decision by officers to appoint a contractor to carry out urgent repairs to tackle hundreds of cases of damp and mould.

Cllr Sheahan said: "The problem of damp and mould has been under the national spotlight recently following the death of a two-year old child in Rochdale due to a severe respiratory illness caused by prolonged exposure to mould in the home.

"Social housing providers up and down the country are now finding themselves under pressure to fix the problems within their own housing stock."

The District Council says it is dealing with 477 reports of damp, mould and condensation, but it expects that only two thirds of those will require remedial or corrective action.

That is still around eight per cent of the Council's housing stock, compared to a figure nationally of around five per cent.

Cllr Sheahan added: "It's hard to get accurate figures, but I believe it's safe to say this Council's damp and mould cases are well above the national average, it's just not yet clear by how much.

"Add to this the findings in the March Corporate Scrutiny report, highlighting understaffing in the housing repairs section, in combination with this latest development: having to pay whatever it costs for an outside contractor, Merrisons, to manage a major repairs programme, shows just how much housing in North West Leicestershire has lost its way under the Tories."