Our homes have been BUTCHERED by builders who left them a mess – we had to sell our car to cover £15,000 bill

RESIDENTS' homes have been left a complete mess after builders stopped working.

Three neighbours claim they have wasted £15,000 between them due to the unfinished work, which was started in June.

Susan Matthewman, of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, said: “The whole place is a mess and I don’t want other people having to go through this situation.

“We should never have given them a deposit which was £1,000. I gave them a second payment on July 7 and they haven’t been back since except two weeks later to ask for their ladders back.

“Anytime you call the number there is no answer.”

Neighbour Tommy Wilson added: “This has been the worst experience of my life. The amount of stress has been unbelievable.

“I haven’t seen or heard from any of the workers over the last few months.

“I have been left with scaffolding on the outside of my house and the front and back door is just a complete mess.

“You don’t believe that people would be able to do something like this.

“I sold my car because I got a work van so I wanted to put some money into my house.

“I had my back garden done at a cost of £9,000 and got new windows costing £5,000 so I wanted the outside of my house done and they’ve butchered it.”

Tommy had organised for another builder to view his property.

The builder said: “It’s a complete mess, it’s going to cost more now to fix it, we would have to strip the roughcast off and start again.”

The work was carried out by a team claiming to be from Forsyth Roofing and Roughcasting Ltd.

But the firm was dissolved in August last year, according to Companies House.

Trading Standards and the police are now investigating the claims.

A Trading Standards spokesperson said: “If you are planning to have work done to your home, ask for recommendations from family or friends.

"If this isn’t possible, shop around for a number of quotes and ask for examples of similar work the company has done recently.

“Make sure you get contact details for their customers and check if they were happy with the work done; don’t rely on written recommendations.

"Be wary if the company only provides a mobile number; always get full contact details and check the business does exist at the address.

“You should not feel pressurised into agreeing to immediate work.

"Do not pay cash up front or offer to go and get money and never agree to pay for goods or give money to strangers who arrive at your door.”