A SINGLE mother with two young children has condemned landlords The National Trust for the disgusting state of her home.

Kirsten Slee, 27, of West Wycombe Road, West Wycombe, has been living in an 18th century cottage owned by The National Trust for almost five years.

But the bank clerk says the house is filled with damp, causing her and her children Jade, five, and Page, four, to suffer from chest complaints, and that the living room has had to be cordoned off because it is uninhabitable.

She says neighbours are having their homes improved yet her own home is still in the same condition as it was when she moved in.

Miss Slee said: "The ceiling is falling down. There is a big crack in the wall in my bedroom. It is just a nightmare. We have supports through the middle of the floor to keep the wall from falling down.

"There are holes around the doors and they told me to stuff newspaper in it. Rotten wood is hanging out of the ceiling and plaster is coming away from the pipes.

"I am supposed to be getting a kitchen fitted and they say 'next budget, next budget'. That is all I have heard for three years."

She added: "I think it is absolutely disgusting. The trust is supposed to preserve all this. If I am paying £415 per month I would like to know where it is going because it is not going on my house."

Miss Slee said she was not complaining because she owed rent but because she wanted The National Trust to realise this should not go on.

David Roberts, of The National Trust, said a new plan for the kitchen had been drawn up.

He said: "We as landlords bend over backwards to do things for people. We consider ourselves to be good landlords. The kitchen I fully accept needs doing but we are ready to do it.

"My advice would be for someone to say at the time [they move in]. It is all very well for someone to rage about it especially when they are owing rent."