Housing firm sorry for shoddy work and dead birds

Sara Woodall from Connexus admitted work carried out on its behalf had not been up to scratch

A social housing provider has apologised to people living on a housing estate after a series of complaints about poor workmanship and tree cutting.

Connexus held a meeting with residents on Sandpits Avenue and Sandpits Close in Ludlow, Shropshire, on Wednesday to address their concerns.

Director of customer experience Sara Woodall blamed a previous contractor for delays in a refurbishment project and promised measures to protect wildlife.

In response to suggestions on social media that the promises would not be kept, Ms Woodall said: "We want to work with them to address their concerns, because we know there's a lot of anger - quite rightly so."

Residents complained about botched and stalled refurbishments on their homes.

Windows were left with gaps around them or bricked up, walls and ceilings with cracks and holes and some residents said mould became so bad in their homes it caused health problems.

Then earlier this month, they told BBC Radio Shropshire how contractors for the firm cut down a tree containing nesting birds and bats, some of which died as they fell.

At the time, Connexus apologised but said the tree had become dangerous.

One resident showed how part of his window had been bricked up

Ms Woodall said a new contractor on the refurbishment project was putting things right but the work was taking time.

"It has felt, and we explained this to residents, 'one step forward, two steps back' because we've had to go back and put right work that wasn't done properly in the first instance," she said.

In response to the tree cutting, which is under investigation by the RSPCA for potentially breaching wildlife laws, Connexus promised new protections for wildlife on the estate.

"[We will] design in swift boxes as part of the roof treatment, we've provided nest boxes to any customers who want them and we're also committing to place some hedgehog homes across the site," Ms Woodall said.

The meeting followed calls by local councillor Andy Boddington for the provider to get together with residents to work through issues.

He said of the refurbishment project: "This is the worst thing we've had in Ludlow for decades. If you go round the houses, you think: 'God, this is disgraceful'."