SUPERSTITION dictates it is bad luck to open an umbrella indoors.

But for the past year Southampton man Paul Harragan has had little choice.

Exactly one year ago the 32-year-old told the council that when it rained outside water came into his flat.

Twelve months later and the problem at his Weston council home of eight years has not been fixed.

Worse still, the leaks occur in the bedroom of the one-bedroom flat, causing massive damp and puddles, making it uninhabitable.

Mr Harragan, a road layer, said: "I'm sick of it. It's disgusting and it has been like this for a year. There was a hole in the wall so they put two bricks in, but there's a crack now below the bricks. It's a mess.

"They've also drilled holes in the window-sill and I don't know what they are for.

"I've been paying full rent yet I can't stay here. My eight-year-old has asthma and when he comes over I've always got to get his inhaler at the ready."

Mr Harragan has reported the problem to the council more than ten times during the past year but it was not until December that workmen attempted to rectify the leaks.

Ward councillor Richard Williams has been supporting Mr Harragan in his battle.

Cllr Williams said: "This simply is not fair. The council has assured me that it's going to be fixed but, as yet, it hasn't.

"I think he has been remarkably patient. If it's not sorted, I think he's got every right to consider legal action."

A council spokesman said that work to solve the leak was now in hand. He said: "We have inspected and carried out a series of works on the Hurstbourne Place property to try to get to the bottom of this problem - although this work has been hampered by difficulty in

gaining access to the flat above.

"We have already carried out maintenance on guttering and drain pipes and we believe the problem may lie with degraded asphalt on the balcony of the upper-floor property.

"When the work is completed we will deal with the mould problem and issue Mr Harragan with decoration vouchers."

But Mr Harragan was not impressed.

"I've had enough, I want a new flat," he added.