Bolton mother says son ‘ate green fluffy mould’ in their damp flat

A “terrified” mother said one of her young sons had eaten “green fluffy mould” that had grown in their damp flat, including in his toybox.

Mother-of-two Emma Needham said she had been forced to wait for months before action was taken to tackle the problem at their home in the Horwich area of Bolton in Greater Manchester.

She said Lincoln, now two, suffered bronchitis after eating the mould and added that Theodore had later ended up in hospital with breathing problems.

Social housing provider Bolton at Home said the mould had been removed as “a matter of urgency” and new vents had been installed to address problems with damp.

Ms Needham said she had lived in her flat in Cheriton Gardens for more than four years.

Despite her efforts to remove damp and mould, and to keep the property dry, she said the problem grew worse last year.

She said Lincoln repeatedly suffered from bronchitis and had been hospitalised on several occasions.

In December 2023, Ms Needham said she was shocked to discover Lincoln’s box of toys covered in green and black mould.

She said she came to the conclusion that Lincoln “was eating the mould”.

Ms Needham said that when she reported the problems directly to Bolton at Home in early 2024, she had been told to wait due to a backlog of housing issues.

She said she was “disgusted” by the response, especially since she said she had pointed out that her little boy had fallen ill.

Ms Needham also said she had been desperate to fix the mould before the birth of her second child, “terrified” he would also be affected.

Theodore was born in March.

Within days of being taken home, though, his mother said he developed breathing problems and spent spent five days at Royal Bolton Hospital on an oxygen tube.

A GP wrote to Bolton at Home, saying that while Theodore had suffered wheezing problems at the flat, he had recovered during periods away.

On several occasions following an inspection by Bolton at Home in June, the family moved into hotels while mould was removed and vents were installed.

Ms Needham said while her children’s health had improved, she feared work on the property was only a “temporary fix”.

“I just feel like I am on a waiting game,” she said. “Is it going to come back, are my kids going to be OK?

“It’s the middle of winter – and I’ve got my windows open all the time to stop the damp.”

Ms Needham said she had been offered £100 by Bolton at Homes due to issues left over from the vent installation work at her home.

“I was fuming,” she said, accusing Bolton at Homes of refusing to accept responsibility for the mould.

She said she was still waiting for the outcome of her complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.

A Bolton at Home spokesperson said it had “urgently” arranged for work to remove the mould and lower humidity levels after Ms Needham first reported the issue.

She had been given advice on “reducing humidity and improving ventilation” and would receive “regular follow-up checks”, he added.

Her case was raised at a Bolton Council meeting by Councillor Ryan Bamforth, who said it was “absolutely heartbreaking” and “what no young family should have to go through”.

“It’s just not acceptable in any form or way and we should be expecting and receiving a better service in regards to our social housing,” he said.

Bamforth told BBC Radio Manchester there was a wider issue across Bolton of some social homes “being allowed to be run down and sold off” for profit.

In a statement, Bolton Council said: “We understand how upsetting this must have been for Emma Needham and her family.

“In cases where there is an open complaint with the Housing Ombudsman, and where the provider has failed to take appropriate action, the council will take enforcement action.”

CLARIFICATION – 4 December 2024: We originally used the term “council flat” in this article, rather than “social housing”. While the former is often used generically, we should have been more precise in our language and used the latter.