A mum and her three children were left living in a council house with a gaping hole in the roof.
Kirsty Amos said she's had to have the heating on constantly as the property in North Shields was so cold. The 35-year-old said the hole in the roof was so big that somebody could climb through it.
She had to buy an electric heater for each of her children's bedrooms and use a pan to collect the rain which was dripping into her eldest son's room through the loft hatch.
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The mum-of-three said the situation left her worried about her children's health and unable to afford her gas bill.
She claims she contacted North Tyneside Council at least 10 times this week and visited their office but they told her there was a backlog of repairs and they were waiting on scaffolding to become available.
Kirsty, who is mum to Danny, 15, Caydon, 12 and Iiyla, five, said: "I've had to have my heating on basically all day every day due to the warmth going straight through the roof.
"I'm struggling with my gas bill. I'm at the point where I have to try and keep the heating off and wrap up through the day when the kids aren't in, then put it on when they come in.
"They complain about it being cold as their bedrooms are upstairs. I have had to buy electric heaters so they can put them on. They have got one of them in each of their rooms.
"Two of my children have got asthma and chest problems. If the heating is on too much it affects their chest."
Kirsty said she moved into the house with her three children in April last year. She said she began concerned about how cold the property was during the winter and spotted three or four small holes in the roof.
She informed the local authority about the holes in the roof and workers turned up to inspect the issue and install scaffolding on Monday this week.
The single mum said, after they left, she noticed the small holes were gone and there was now one large hole in the roof.
She said the recent bad weather, which has involved a yellow weather warning for snow and ice, has led to rain leaking onto her new carpet and damaging her property.
Kirsty said she was forced to put a pan on the floor inside Danny's bedroom to collect the water coming from the loft hatch and he hasn't been able to sleep due to the dripping noise.
She added: "I'm honestly so annoyed it's unreal. I have been in touch with the council 10 times just this week. I have had to go down to the council. I have even been to the kids' school to see if they are able to help.
"They should definitely be doing more. It's not just me living here, there's three children living here."
After being made aware of the huge hole, workers from North Tyneside Council attended Kirsty's property on Wednesday. They ensured that the roof was watertight and plan to complete the work on Thursday.
Peter Mennell, Director of Property Services and Housing at North Tyneside Council, said: "Firstly, we would like to apologise for the issues the tenant and her family have been experiencing. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that our tenants live in safe, secure and high-quality homes and we always respond quickly and professionally when repairs are raised.
"Maintenance had been previously planned in line with our repairs policy to replace ridge tiles on the roof of the property and scaffolding for this work was put up on Monday by one of our subcontractors, during which there was further damage caused to the roof.
"As soon as we were made aware of the damage, we responded immediately and remedial work began."
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