A YOUNG couple were horrified when they were realised they would have to bring their first baby home to a damp-ridden kitchen which wouldn't be inspected by landlords until the end of next month.

Taylor Edwards and Jesse Field's son Hunter-Wray was born last month. The young parents were prepared for difficulties after scans had revealed that he would be brain damaged.

But their vulnerable situation was made extra difficult when they discovered that parts of their damp-ridden kitchen ceiling had plummeted to the floor. They were told it wouldn't be inspected until September 27.

“I want my baby home as soon as possible but the house isn’t safe for him!” said Miss Edwards.

The couple moved into their new home in Carlton Gardens, Farnworth, in May.

Bolton at Home Housing Association, which provides social housing, ensured it was adapted accommodation which would be suitable for Hunter-Wray.

But the day they moved in they noticed a crack on the plaster board on the kitchen ceiling.

“We thought it may have been from a leak that had been fixed because we assumed they wouldn’t have let us move in if it had been anything serious,” said Mr Field.

They phoned the council the next day and a work man was sent out.

“We told him about the ceiling and he said he would inform the office, but we didn’t hear anything,” said Miss Edwards,

Hunter-Wray was born in the Royal Bolton Hospital on July 26. He was born with ventriculomegaly – a form of brain damage – and the next day he was transferred to St Mary’s Neonatal Unit in Manchester for surgery.

His worried parents stayed at Ronald McDonald House, which is free accommodation at the site for families of children receiving treatment.

They were delighted when they learned last week that little Hunter-Wray was well enough to be transferred back to the Royal Bolton.

On Saturday Mr Field returned to their home — for the first time since the birth — to collect a few necessities.

“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” he said. "There was plaster and board all over the kitchen floor. It had fallen from the ceiling.”

Miss Edwards said: “Imagine if I’d been in there holding the baby while making a bottle. The ceiling could have fallen on us!

“I couldn’t wait for us all to come home as a family but now I’m scared of going in my own kitchen. We can’t bring a fragile baby, recovering from surgery, to a house with damp and falling plaster.”

Following an approach by The Bolton News, Bolton at Home announced that, “due to the circumstances” the inspection scheduled for September 27 was carried out yesterday instead.

The spokesman said: “We attended the property on 05/08/18. It was found that the ball cock had failed which we renewed and made the kitchen ceiling safe. The property had been vacant for a few days which meant the leak had been running for that period of time damaging the kitchen ceiling.”

Yesterday, she said: “We have contacted the customer this morning and arranged for a plastering team to attend today to repair the kitchen ceiling and identify any further work which may be required.”