A family say they have been left "at breaking point" after a rouge builder left them £40,000 out of pocket.
Mum-of-two Charlotte Rudolph and her husband Sam Peacock had been renovating their home they bought in January, and hired a builder to help them.
But the builder left the property unlivable and "disappeared" after he asked for additional money to cover invoices and costs of materials.
When they refused the pay, Charlotte said he ignored their letters and removed his tools and some of the materials.
The family had been living in a social housing rented property for four-and-a-half years, but finally purchased their "forever home" for £287,500.
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Charlotte, 41, from Bath, said the plan was to have the new home ready for them and their children.
She told SomersetLive : "We have been working alongside the builder as his labourers; it's been exhausting but exhilarating building our family home, and something I’ll always be proud of."
Yet it took a turn for the worse when Charlotte claims the costs went above what had been arranged with the builder and things spiralled.
According to Mail Online, the couple drew up a contract whereby the builder agreed to do job for a fixed fee of £35,000 - including labour and materials.
The mum explained the clock is ticking, with the family obliged to soon move out of their current home.
They were given 26 weeks to complete the renovations after purchasing the house, which was extended until October by the council.
The family have already paid more than £40,000 from savings and from family and friends, Charlotte says, to cover the cost of the work.
Yet the house has apparently been left unfinished, with thousands of pounds of work still needing doing before the family can move into their "forever" home.
She explained she felt "stupid" for trusting the builder to get the work done and "disappointed" the house is not yet liveable.
Not only that but Charlotte alleges the work carried out does not meet building regulation standard, and she fears some of it will have to be redone.
The plan had been to move into the new house in Fairfield Park by now but further work is needed to make the site safe for the family, according to Charlotte.
The mother-of-two said the stress of finding themselves in this position has been dreadful but that a saving grace has been the amount of offers for help the family have recieved.
Initially she wasn't sure she wanted to tell people about the ordeal but the importance of getting their family home right was too great.
She said: "This is our future we are looking at, I need to get the kids' bedrooms okay and this house was meant to be us getting to live out the future with no worries."
The family have set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of re-doing the work which has so far made £1,900 out of a £10,000 target.
Charlotte said: "We've had an enormous amount of help with people who have heard the news, with people offering to help fix the roof and project manage the rest of the work.
"Me and Sam are willing to work really hard to finish this but we do need help.
The costs of getting things finished have been eye-watering, but some tradesmen have offered to come and help out which is amazing.
"Yet it is the materials which are so expensive.
"But it's been really humbling to see so many offers of help.
The family have gone to Trading Standards and the council over their disagreement with the builder.
Bath and North East Somerset Council said it was aware of the complaint but was unable to comment.
