A housing association is carrying out an investigation after part of a roof at one of its houses collapsed, narrowly missing children playing in a garden.

Gaynor Bolton said her son and daughter were with friends in the garden of their home in Tyersal, Bradford, when the wooden sofet board supporting the roof buckled and a number of grey bricks and stones fell down, missing them by inches.

Miss Bolton, who was hosting a birthday celebration for a relative at the time, said she heard a huge crash and ran outside to find her children in tears and debris scattered across the lawn of her house in Chervana Court.

She said: "They were really scared they were going to be hurt. The roof had collapsed right above the back door so I had to guide them out the gate and in through the front entrance to the house.

"It could have been disastrous if any of the children had been stood under the roof at the time."

Miss Bolton, 25, claimed Northern British Housing Association, which owns the property, told residents that the houses, which are only three-and-a-half years old, would be given an overhaul when she moved in two years ago, but nothing had been done.

"These houses are a death trap - they are just falling apart," she said.

"Something needs to be done about the problem now before someone is hurt.

"This incident has just highlighted the problem."

Miss Bolton's neighbour, Margaret Ward, who also lives in Chervana Court, said: "The association doesn't care about our welfare as long as it gets the rent.

"It promised a year ago it would fix the fences in the gardens which have been vandalised and are also a danger for the children, but nothing has been done."

A spokesman for the housing association said safety checks were now being carried out on all houses in the estate.

"This is a very unusual incident," he said.

"We responded immediately to Miss Bolton's request to repair the sofet board.

"The contractors were on site straight away and finished the work the same day.

"Although we've never had an incident like this before, as a matter of routine we're checking all the other houses on the estate.

"Even though the development is relatively new, we have to replace the original wooden fencing that has been destroyed due to vandalism.

"This work is currently out to tender and the new fencing will be made of brick and metal to reduce the risk of further damage."