PENARTH families who were left thousands of pounds out of pocket have spoken about their ordeal.

Ms Vander, said her family - her sister and young son - had been “irreversibly” affected physically, mentally, emotionally and financially by the poor standard of building work carried out at their house in 2015 by Daniel Marshall.

They were forced to move out due to the ceilings being at risk of collapse, moving from place to place over two months.

“We are going without, my son is my priority and I am disappointed that I am now not able to give my son the quality of life that he had previously,” she said. “Our roof was not watertight for six months - all floors of the house were damaged by the continued water ingress.

“It was unbearable and torturous living with this. The many roof leaks and water ingress to plastered ceilings and walls caused mould.

“The likelihood is that once these areas are finished, or even sooner, we will have to sell the house and downsize as we simply cannot maintain our outgoings as they currently are and cannot borrow any more money.”

Speaking about Marshall she said: “We trusted that he was being truthful when he spoke to us and when advertising his skills as a builder.

“He is the person who gave me misleading information and abused my trust, felt entitled to my hard earned money without any offer of repayment, who has left us feeling well and truly broken and has kept us waiting an agonising two and a half years hoping for some sense of resolution and justice.

“He made no acknowledgement of the impact of his actions on our lives. His choices have been permanently life changing for us and I cannot see how we will ever recover from this.”

Mrs Strabel says her family - her husband and two children - is now “financially vulnerable”.

She said: “We now find ourselves, through no fault of our own, with an increasing household debt.

“I have had to increase my hours by working every weekday evening.

“The crossing over of the mains water and the heating system has resulted in contamination of our drinking water supply, and that this posed a risk to the health of the family and my pregnancy. This was terribly distressing.”

“He (Marshall) continues to demonstrate a complete lack of respect, regard, or empathy, for the situation he has left us in.”