A single mum claims she has finished up with a "house of horror" when she expected to move into a pleasant home.

The run-down two bed-roomed house in Sutton Avenue, Swain House, Bradford, has broken windows, damaged plaster, and a leak in the bathroom. The front door has been replaced with an insecure metal plate and the gas meter has been removed.

But 21-year-old Alex Robinson, pictured, said she was horrified when she was told the repairs to the property would only be done when she and her baby, 15-month-old Harrison, had moved in.

Miss Robinson admitted she had accepted the house under the Trust's Homehunter service - which operates like an estate agency where people can bid for rented houses - but said she had not realised how much work was needed.

Today Chris Hodgson head of operations for North Bradford Community Hous-ing Trust said: "It was explained to Miss Robinson that the windows would be reglazed and the door fitted on the day she moved in. Other repairs will also be effected when she moves in.

"All new tenants have to arrange gas connection with the supplier of their choice and that can sometimes take several weeks, which may delay the removal date. This gas connection is beyond our control but we have assisted this applicant in her dealings with the gas industry. We do not charge rent until the tenant moves in."

He said there had been 59 bids for the property in the last month and if Miss Robinson gave up her tenancy at Sutton Avenue she could bid for another property.

"The system allows each applicant to bid for two properties in a fortnightly cycle and the property goes to the appropriate applicant who has been waiting the longest for that particular property," said Mr Hodgson.

Harrison's grandfather, Thomas White, who has repaired some of the plaster in the house, helped to tackle the overgrown garden and clean up the shabby house, said: "It's not fit for my grandson to move into and how could they expect a young girl to deal with all this before she moved in? It's disgraceful.

"We've had a lot of problems over getting the gas sorted out because the meter had been removed about two years ago. At first we were told we would have to pay for it. This house is terrible and there's a lot of work to do."

Miss Robinson said she had been waiting for two years for a house because the private rented property she is currently in had no garden.