HOUSING officers, who failed to repair a woman's home have been found guilty of maladministration.

The Local Government Ombudsman has ordered Stockton Borough Council to pay the woman £500 and make the repairs.

The ombudsman's report was the culmination of complaints about a house which leaked and was badly affected by damp, woodlice and loose plaster.

The ombudsman was satisfied that the council and housing organisation Tristar dealt with most of the complaints properly.

But their failure to repair large sections of loose plaster resulted in the verdict of maladministration.

The single mother, who has a 14-year-old son, was not identified by the ombudsman.

She first made complaints about her Stockton council house in 2002, a few months after they moved in to the property which had been empty for six months.

The ombudsman's report said the woman had wanted to buy the house from the council but it was infested with woodlice, damp and had some structural problems.

The report said the local authority housing officers and workers from the council and Tristar made between 60 and 70 inspections and spent £2,571 on the house but failed to deal with large sections of loose plaster and a cracked ceiling.

The woman, who works nights, complained that she had lost a lot of sleep and had suffered from stress.

In his report the ombudsman said: "I see maladminstration causing injustice to the tenant in the way the council dealt with two issues.

"I do not consider that large areas of loose plaster fits the council's own definition of what it expects tenants to deal with.

"Also, I was concerned that this investigation revealed a repairs system which appeared to result in more visits than are surely necessary.

"I am pleased to learn that Tristar is making progress in that direction."

A spokesperson for Stockton Council and Tristar Homes said: "We welcome the ombudsman's finding that, in the majority of the complaints, no maladministration took place.

"The ombudsman has acknowledged the improvements we have introduced to our inspection system since this complaint.

"Our quality of service is very important to us and it recently helped us to earn a good, two star performance rating from the Audit Commission."