Wigan couple's ceiling collapses for FOURTH time amid multiple problems with traders working on their roof

Peter and Gloria Armistead believe the project at their home in Standish should have cost around £7,500 to complete.

But they have had a procession of traders in to do the job and paid more than double that, yet their home is still not water-tight.

Mrs Armistead, 76, described the situation as a “comedy of errors from day one”.

She said: “All I want to be is dry and be able to enjoy my old age.

"I don’t know what to do. I don’t know who to turn to.”

The couple had a problem with their flat dormer roof around 15 months ago and needed it to be made water-tight.

They found a roofer via a recommendations website who stripped the flat roof, assured them it was water-tight and charged £1,350.

More work was done by another firm at a cost of £1,500, but water came pouring in six months later.

Mrs Armistead asked that second roofer to come back and she says he started ripping up the roof and broke a gutter and facia, before telling her the flat roof would be a continual issue due to excess water from a neighbouring property.

The Armisteads decided to have the roof replaced to create an apex and were quoted £7,000 by the same firm, with payments made at the end of each day of work.

But they say this roofer made “a total mess” and the work was “incredibly shoddy”, so they challenged him and he became “verbally abusive”.

He said the work had been finished and asked for £4,000 cash, which the couple insisted on paying by bank transfer. Two days later, they say he dumped a van-load of rubbish on their doorstep.

The couple used another recommendations website to find their next trader, who quoted £7,700 for the work before dropping the price to £4,000.

While there, they say the firm was “busy touting for business up and down the road” and they were not happy with the work done.

Then it started raining and their bedroom was “completely under water”.

They then struggled to find someone to fix the roof, with the previous workers not willing to return and two independent roofing companies saying the work all needed to be redone.

Eventually the Armisteads found a roofer willing to do the job and they paid £7,200 – but the roof is still not watertight and the ceiling has fallen down for the fourth time.

The couple have sought help but do not know where to turn now, having been let down by traders they believed to be reputable and running out of money.

Mrs Armistead said: “I don’t know what to do. I’m totally at a loss. There must be some reliable, honest roofer out there will will come. We will have to pay again, we are aware of that, but not another £18,000 that we don’t have.”