A young couple forced to live in a mould-covered flat have issued a cry for help, fearing their unborn child’s life could be at risk.

Toni-Leigh Hardy and her partner Leighton Allcock have been left fearing for theirs and their incoming child’s health after mould developed in their Stoke-on-Trent council home. The expectant parents, both 20, claim they and their two-year-old daughter have had to live with the growths for months on end after initially spotting the early signs in 2023.

Despite repeated attempts from the local council to paint over the developing spores since 2024, the mould keeps coming back, and it appears to have taken root in theirs and their young daughter’s bedrooms. The family claims to have been left “constantly poorly”, with Tori “coughing and throwing up all the time”.

Speaking to Stoke-on-Trent Live, Toni said they first saw the mould at their property in November 2023, but claims no action was taken by the council until the following July, when their walls were painted with anti-mould paint. But it had returned by October 2024, and, despite a second attempt by the council to address the issue in November, the stubborn growth has once again reared its ugly head.

Toni said: “It’s everywhere. There’s big patches in the corners of every room and all of my decorating has just been destroyed. My daughter’s room is covered. They’ve painted the rooms but it just keeps growing back. We’re now sleeping on the floor because of how bad it is. I’ve asked for a move, but they’ve told me that my flat is suitable to live in.

“But my daughter is constantly poorly, my partner’s poorly, and I’m coughing and throwing up all the time.” As well as the physical impact, Toni said, the stress caused by the constant looming threat of the mould has meant she sometimes goes to bed “crying a lot”, as she can hear her daughter “coughing and gagging”.

She continued: “It’s just so stressful. I go to bed some nights crying a lot, because I can sit up and hear my daughter coughing and gagging. It’s affected my partner quite badly as well. He doesn’t speak a lot about it because he gets very angry about the ways things are. We’re all trapped in the living room and we don’t have our own space anymore.

“I’m very worried for my daughter’s health. I read up on the two-year-old boy who died because of mould in Rochdale. It worries me to the point where sometimes I think I’m going to lose my own daughter.” The couple are now asking to be moved from their council home, and have enlisted the help of Allison Gardner, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, to help make their case.

A Stoke-on-Trent City Council spokesman said further work would be carried out on the home following a visit from representatives, adding officials are liaising with Toni and Leighton. They said: “Our operatives have previously attended the property to treat damp and mould in the bedroom. During a follow up visit, it was established that further work is required and we are now liaising with the tenant to get the issue resolved as soon as possible. The work is due to start on Wednesday, February 19.”

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