�A woman suffering from internal bleeding and a serious lung infection blames her condition on years of untreated rising damp in her home.

Carol Cockerill, 51, who lives in Canonbury Road, Canonbury, claims both she and her daughter have been passing and coughing up blood and have sores on their skin as a result of the moisture in air.

She describes her flat as “a living hell”, but Family Mosaic, the housing association which manages the property, insist there is nothing wrong with it.

She said: “It’s absolutely horrific. The damp is killing us and we need to get out of here. My lungs are affected, I have lost three stone to pneumonia and we have both been coughing and passing blood.

“We first noticed it five years ago when they did some work on the kitchen.

“Now there are white spores are all over our clothes and the walls – it’s like it’s snowing indoors – and the smell is so bad, visitors have to hold a cloth to their nose. We have to wash in a special solution to get the bacteria off our skin.”

‘Heartless’

The housing association has sent various inspectors and Ms Cockerill said they are shocked when they see the state of her home, but their official reports always come out positive.

Now she has commissioned her own independent survey in a bid to end the problem.

“Now I have got a different professional on the case – I just want to get me and my daughter out of here.”

Oriel Hutchinson, Conservative candidate in the forthcoming St Mary’s by-election, has championed Ms Cockerill’s cause.

She said: “It’s cruel to leave someone in a state like that – heartless.

“My lungs were very heavy for a couple of hours after being in her flat. It’s a horrible feeling. To live in it all the time must be ghastly.”

A spokeswoman for Family Mosaic said: “We have responded to Ms Cockerill’s complaints on several occasions. We have also advised we are not able to look into the matter further.

“Six surveys have been carried out by Family Mosaic and Islington Council’s Environmental Health division and all surveyors are satisfied there is no evidence of rising damp.”