A COUPLE have told of their frustration at suffering lengthy delays in moving into the home they reserved almost a year ago.

Paul and Claire Knapp agreed last November to purchase a Bellway Homes property on the West Park development, in the Faverdale area of Darlington.

But they have faced setbacks in their efforts to get a date for construction work on the house to be completed.

The couple said they were initially given a completion date of April for the house.

Mr Knapp sold his home in Peterlee, County Durham, to be in a position to proceed with the move.

But he said further delays saw the anticipated completion date put back to July, then August, September and now this month.

The couple were forced to rent a flat in Peterlee as they waited.

In August, Bellway told them that adjustments to the building programme had been forced on the company for "a variety of reasons, including the general labour shortage across the region".

The latest date offered to them for completion of the work was Friday next week, but no guarantees were given.

Mr Knapp, 39, said: "If they'd been upfront with us and told us a realistic date, we would have either looked elsewhere or been able to make better provision.

"There must be a lot more people in our situation who have been messed about and I think the law should be changed to enable private buyers to be given definite, realistic dates when they are buying."

Bellway spokesman Julian Kenyon said: "We have never given any definite dates for these people. There have been a couple of delays on site, which we apologise for. Work is progressing and we hope to move them in as soon as possible."