AN insult. That is how people living at the centre of an asbestos scare have described being offered £100 each to deck out their contaminated homes for Christmas.

Sixty residents of Allan Grove and Chambers Avenue in Romsey have branded the latest “goodwill gesture” by housing association chiefs a joke and have spoken out about their disgust for Testway Housing which they claim has done too little, too late.

The offer was made at a meeting between Testway officials and residents at the home of 42- year-old Terry Barr – who lived in a caravan on his driveway for five months after he claims £40,000 of his contaminated possessions were thrown out.

Residents fired a list of 30 questions including why the housing association acted only after a Daily Echo report into the asbestos contamination, especially when they knew asbestos was present when they bought the homes from Test Valley Borough Council in 2000 and why residents have been “fobbed off” and “treated like lepers”.

Housing chiefs admitted their approach had been flawed and apologised for still not making the homes safe after months of delay. They also said sorry for the lack of communication with the residents labelling the saga as a “learning curve”.

The housing association will now launch an investigation into the treatment of its residents including claims that a surveyor employed by an agency entered several properties without protective clothing or paperwork before being pulled off site by asbestos specialists.

Mother-of-four Sam Adams, 34, of Allan Grove, said: “Testway have buried their heads in the sand. It is the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen in the future. I have four children and we could die. We have all been using those towels, clothes, underwear, which has now been destroyed in controlled conditions.

Should we really be living in our homes?”

Neighbour Karen Doherty told Testway bosses: “I have to say £100 is an insult. What a joke!

After all the heartbreak these residents have gone through, I don’t think you have reassured many people in this room.”

The asbestos investigation began after a workman ripped asbestos from Terry’s home thinking it was fibreboard in June. The residents were then told disturbed chunks of asbestos were in their airing cupboards and their lofts, which they fear is being wafted around their homes by fans.

The slightest disturbance can release specks of lethal dust that can become trapped deep inside the lungs and can cause mesothelioma, a fatal cancer, up to 40 years later.

But homes have still not been cleared and some residents have even been instructed to go in the lofts to get down their precious possessions – potentially contaminating the entire house with the fatal fibres.

The Health and Safety Executive will carry out an investigation and Romsey MP Sandra Gidley has tabled a motion in the House of Commons demanding immediate action.

Testway has pledged to allocate one member of staff to handle questions, give each house a specialist report on the findings, ensure all asbestos is removed from the homes as soon as possible and assured residents it would vacate the premises if experts advise that action.

Testway Housing operations director Julian Paine told residents: “In hindsight we should have been talking to you a whole lot more and said we are going to be carrying out inspections. It is a trick we have missed much earlier.

“We have clearly fallen short of your standards and your expectations of us and stuff has gone on that we really need to understand.

“At the moment we know that you feel let down, we know that you are all unhappy and we are learning from this.We are trying to put it right as much as we can.

“We will learn from this process to make sure it will not happen again.”