A WIDOWER has been left with a big decorating headache after Elgar Housing Association decided to refit his recently installed kitchen.

Len Williams, aged 76, now has patches of bare plaster and old wallpaper on show.

He cannot redecorate the kitchen himself and has been offered just £25 towards the cost of employing someone to do it for him.

"We only came here in April last year and it was a brand new kitchen then. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but I was told the work needed doing because the electric cooker was in a dangerous position," said Mr Williams, of The Drive, Colletts Green.

"Besides, moving the cooker and installing an extractor fan, they also moved the washing machine and sink.

"It seemed unnecessary to me. It has left me with bare plaster, channels in the wallpaper where new wiring was put in and a patch of old wallpaper, exposed when a cupboard was moved."

Mr Williams, whose wife died last July, is currently facing a hefty bill for the headstone for her grave.

He said he could not afford to pay decorators and could not possibly do the work at the bungalow himself as he suffers from dizziness, even trying to change a light bulb.

"The quality of the new units and the workmanship is fine, but the walls are in a disgusting state. It seems to be spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar," he said.

County councillor Tom Wells has asked Elgar Housing Association to review the situation.

"There is a huge need for re-decoration. The place was a bomb site," he said.

"I understand there is an ongoing programme to refit all the kitchens in the sheltered housing at Colletts Green, where the tenants are, by definition, elderly or disabled.

"Many of them are in their 90s and it is totally unacceptable to expect them to carry out re-decoration."

Executive director Clare Huyton said Elgar Housing Association was planning to carry out 400 kitchen replacements in this financial year, spending about £3,000 per property and offering support to tenants before and during the installation.

"We believe that all our tenants, both young and old, should have the benefit of a high quality kitchen," she said.

"Elgar offers a £25 voucher to assist with any minor decorations that may be required once the kitchen units have been installed and where the wall tiling finishes."

Ms Huyton said the current policy would be reviewed as a result of Mr Williams' concerns, but any changes agreed would only apply to future kitchen replacement programmes.