A couple and their five young children are living in a “shell of a house” after a builder failed to complete £18,000 of work.
Deone Dearlove and husband Chris say their brood have been "left abandoned" by builder Steven Hunt, 39, after he "stopped turning up".
The couple remortgaged the family home last year in order to pay £18,000 for an extension, Hull Live reports.
But the job is incomplete and the kids now have to “jump over a hole” to get inside the property in Hessle, East Yorkshire.
And last month, Mr and Mrs Dearlove found out Mr Hunt had been declared bankrupt.
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“I know there’s little chance of us getting our money back, but I want people to be aware of what he has done,” said Mrs Dearlove.
“I don’t want the same thing happening to someone else.
“We paid Steve £5,000 on September 13, 2019, and that is the day work started. He told us it would take six weeks to complete an extension to the back of the house and a small extension at the front, as well as double glazing.
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“We then paid him in instalments on September 20 and 27, November 4, 19 and 25, and November 11, 14, and 29.
“It came to £18,000 altogether, and the final instalment was £500 for a deposit for the front door, which he never ordered.”
Mr and Mrs Dearlove say Mr Hunt, who was recommended by friends, stopped showing up in November.
The man, also from Hessle, was then declared bankrupt on January 3 and his assets will now be seized.
But Mrs Dearlove said: What shocks me is that he can still trade. So long as he doesn’t change his business name he can carry on taking people’s money.
“He won’t answer my calls, and my house has been left in an awful state.
"The back of the house is just a shell and nothing has been boarded up, and we haven’t had a roof for four months because it was left open.
“It’s been raining directly onto the kids’ bedroom ceilings.
“There’s a hole directly in front of the front door meaning my kids, who are 11, 10, eight, three and 18 months, have to jump over it.
Mrs Dearlove says she has been temporarily added to the list of Mr Hunt’s creditors, in the hopes they can have some of their money refunded.
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