A BROCKHILL family has been left homeless after three years of flooding from faulty plumbing at their brand new house has rendered it uninhabitable.

Policeman Chris Franks, his wife Kate and their two young children have been living in a hotel after their £130,000 Persimmon home in Lily Green Lane was repeatedly flooded.

"At the moment, the house has no carpets and there are dehumidifiers in the rooms to try to get rid of the damp," said Mrs Franks, 28.

"My daughter is asthmatic so can't live in damp environments and it is too much of a risk to live in a house with fans everywhere and a 20-month-old baby."

BBC's Watchdog programme has already investigated similar complaints from residents living in Persimmon houses on Brockhill estate.

For the Franks family, the problems started soon after they moved into the house in September 2003, with water pouring from the first floor into the living room and the garage.

"We have had to have the floors ripped up and replaced because of the severity of the flooding from upstairs and we have had to call the plumber out eight or nine times to look at the sink in the kitchen."

She said they had consulted an independent plumber who had pointed out fatal errors in the original plumbing work.

For the first two years, Persimmon Homes was under contract to carry out the repair work.

However, now the matter is in the hands of the insurers, even though most of the problems started while the property was still under warranty. "

"But our home insurance won't pay out because the problems are to do with bad workmanship,'' said Mrs Franks.

"They also deem the house to be habitable but with damp everywhere and dehumidifiers, I don't see how it can be with young children."

No one from Persimmon Homes was available to comment at the time of going to press.