AN ANDOVER mum is “over the moon” after a report by the Advertiser helped move her family out of a flat that has been affected by severe mould for over a year.

Amy O’Neil has been fighting with housing association Abri about the worsening mould at her council-arranged flat.

Having received no support for nearly a year, the 28-year-old had lost all hopes of fixing her home on Woodcutters Court, off Junction Road in Andover. But after the Advertiser reported how her premature baby son had to be airlifted to hospital due to mould, Abri has now agreed to move her family to a new three-bedroom flat in Picket Twenty.

Thanking the Advertiser for the drastic improvement in the situation, Amy said she can’t wait to move to the new home.

“They have said I can move there any day from Thursday (October 14), and we are over the moon,” she said.

“They (Abri) came and checked the mould two weeks back. They then gave their sincere apologies and last week they offered me the three-bedroom flat.

“I saw the new flat and accepted it. We are in the process of packing everything.”

Amy was living with her daughters, aged nine and two, and four-month-old son at the Woodcutters Court flat.

All three children, who were born prematurely, have suffered from various respiratory conditions including asthma, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and bronchitis, which led to her baby son being airlifted to hospital and spending two weeks in intensive care, and her toddler daughter also being admitted to hospital.

“I asked all the nurses and they have all said that it’s down to these mould spores that they are breathing in,” said Amy.

“My health visitor came round too and wrote to the council to make a complaint, and still nothing has been done.”

She has lived in the property for the past seven years and said she began to notice the mould more than a year ago, starting in her daughters’ bedroom and spreading throughout the flat, and reported it via her housing officer at the council.

She said she was told on several occasions that someone would visit to assess the situation, but after waiting in for them to arrive, was met with no shows.

After the Advertiser made enquiries on Tuesday, September 28, Abri arranged for someone to visit the property and told this newspaper it had “agreed to a plan of action”.

A TVBC spokesperson told the Advertiser that as the property is owned by Abri, it is for them as the landlord to resolve any issues.

Amy said she feels relieved now that somebody has finally listened to her.

But her son, having recovered once, has caught RSV again because of the mould.

“He has currently got it back because of the mould,” she said.

“He is on steroids. But fortunately, he doesn’t need hospitalisation now. Otherwise, things have improved.

“I appreciate everything that the Advertiser has done.”

A spokesperson for Abri said: “We’ve met with our customer to agree a plan of action and have offered to complete the treatment and maintenance needed at the property.

"During this time, the opportunity to move into a new build home through the local authority became available, and our customer has chosen to move. We’re supporting our customer in their upcoming move.

“In the meantime, we’re continuing to arrange access to the property to complete the required treatment and maintenance as part of our agreed plan of action. This remains our priority to ensure the health and wellbeing of the family.”