A woman has spoken out about the drainage issues she faces in her Wiltshire home, claiming she has spent “thousands of pounds” on her own investigations and repairs.

“The smell is putrefying, it’s awful,” she said, recounting incidents during which she was flooded with sewage water despite her efforts to contain it.

The home is located on Walter Way in Old Sarum and is managed by Aster, a housing association which says it has been working with the tenant since she raised her concerns.

44-year-old Jessica McCarnum was allocated the home through the council’s Homes4Wiltshire letting scheme, after it was deemed better suited to her son with special needs than what she described as an “overcrowded” Shrewsbury home.

She moved into the new house in 2012, and according to Ms McCarnum, it didn’t take long before issues began to arise, with tiles falling off the walls of her home.

The first major flood led to “sewage water raining down” through the kitchen ceiling and Ms McCarnum claims she was told by Aster to let it “dry out”.

“I couldn’t get rid of the smell,” she said, “it’s embarrassing.”

She added: “You can be standing in the shower, and all of a sudden, you’re getting a bath filling up and debris coming over your feet.”

An Aster spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear of the issues our customer is experiencing with her home and we have been working with her since she raised her concerns to address these.

”Along with our preservation specialist contractor, we inspected the property and have addressed some of the minor issues identified.

“The home remains safe to live in.

“We are also committed to carrying out some more intrusive works which won’t be safe to do while the customer and her family are in the property.

“We will be providing temporary accommodation while these works are carried out.

“We have made every effort to find a suitable alternative four-bedroom home to meet our customer and her family’s specific needs for this period, and they will be offered a new-build home to live in temporarily in the New Year, before returning to their home.

“In the meantime, we will continue to support our customer and her family.”

Ms McCarnum spoke of the emotional distress she had endured and encouraged other households to speak out.

The tenant blames the issues on the construction of the building, which was carried out by Persimmon Homes.

Persimmon confirmed it visited the 12-year-old property last year as a “goodwill gesture to assess original construction”.

A spokesperson noted: “Any maintenance works so far have been handled by the housing provider.

“While the matter sits with the tenant and housing provider, Persimmon remains available to assist if requested by Aster.”

Meanwhile, Ms McCarnum also claims that Wiltshire Council has refused to visit and “doesn’t care” about families like hers.

She said: “We just want to get on with our lives.

“And the years that we’ve lost, I feel very guilty for.”

She added: “There is a systemic problem with the developments across this county.”

Ms McCarnum concluded: “We’re going to leave a mouldy legacy for our children.”

Wiltshire Council has also been approached for comment.

Earlier this year, the local authority approved a motion that demanded housing associations invest in their older stock in Wiltshire rather than disposing of it on the housing market in the anticipation of buying cheaper replacements.