The garden should be a place for rest and relaxation, but Jane Bamford's has more in common with a toxic wasteland than a calming retreat.
A bizarre blue algae has spread across the 58-year-old disabled woman's back yard, and now she fears it could be slowly killing her beloved pooches.
She says the stinking swamp formed after builders failed to fix a build-up of water. In a bid to improve things, Jane laid new grass seed.
But since then, three-inch-deep puddles of petrol-like sludge have formed, and Jane says her two dogs have become violently ill, while one of them has lost the fur on its legs.
The health worker fears the mouldy marsh is toxic, but her property managers argue fixing the mess lies with the building company.
The garden has always suffered from a build up of water following heavy rainfall, but only since last October has it been plagued by the mystery oily substance.
Her main concern is the health of her dogs - five-year-old German Shepherd, Wilf, and 13-year-old Gladys, a Cairn Terrier crossed with a Jack Russell.
The devastated mum-of-two claims that the smaller dog, Gladys, has lost fur on her legs - which she reckons is due to the rancid quagmire festering in her waterlogged garden.
So far, she has had to fork out £124 in vet bills to treat the dogs - and vets have supposedly warned her to keep them off the 'swamp'.
Jane said: "I don't call it my garden. I call it 'the swamp'. I'm waiting for an alligator to come out of it. It has been nothing but trouble since we moved in.
"I’m worried about the dogs. Someone mentioned it could be blue algae. It kills dogs, and if they're exposed to it, it can kill them. It can children too.
"When my garden is flooded the garden is underwater. It looks like oil, the surveyor said it was some form of moss.
"It looks like petrol or when your car leaks and leaves a stain on the pavement. Gladys has lost his fur on his legs because of it.
"The dogs are getting quite ill. The little one is really low to the ground and has an upset stomach.
"They've both been really violently sick. The vet has said keep them off the grass because we don't really know what it is."
Animal-lover Jane says the muddy substance first appeared after she put down some new grass seed after a buildup of water ruined her turf.
She says the green space was left "like a swimming pool" and that she even fell while tending her plants because the area was so wet.
Jane, who has lived at the property since last March, explained: "I was told it's the tenant's responsibility, so I threw a box of grass seed on it to get it growing again.
"Then this black stuff started appearing, it was gloopy.
"When it rains it just doesn't go anywhere because it's clay underneath it.
"This is all the builders fault, all of it. They told me they put a layer of soil down before they built, but I know it's clay soil.
"I fell in the garden in November because it was that slippery and wet. I've been off work a long time because of it.
"It's a cloggy black substance with a chemical sheen to it. It's this black mud. I thought I had struck oil at first. But that black stuff is mould, not soil.
"I'm worried the dogs will die from exposure to the water. I'm devastated. All I want to do is live in my house and enjoy my garden.”
Darren Harrison, service manager at Platform Housing Group, said: "We are sorry to hear of our customer's issues with her garden.
"We have been in touch with the developer who visited Ms Bamford's home earlier in the week to undertake a site survey.
"The developer will be taking action to rectify the issue."
Do you have a story to share about nightmare builders? Please get in touch at saffron.otter@reachplc.com
