DIY company Polycell is facing court action in North Yorkshire in the wake of a customer's claim that one of the firm's wallpaper paste products ruined her life.

In the summer of 1997, 30-year-old Fawzia Gilani-Williams was wallpapering her terraced house in Wallsall in the West Midlands, using paste manufactured by the company.

Most people would be unaffected by the chemicals in the product - but Mrs Williams claims a reaction to formaldehyde proved devastating.

She alleges that, within weeks she was unable to walk and itched furiously, and a month later, was no longer able to pick up her baby daughter.

And today - almost five years later - she undergoes an operation in Ohio, where surgeons hope to restore her grip, once she has completed an intensive therapy course.

Polycell disputes the claims and is expected to vigorously defend the court action.

However, Mrs Williams' husband, Robert, said: "We believe the paste gave her chemical burns.

"We think it caused an allergic reaction that caused the swelling and gave her full-blown Hashimoto's thyroiditis, developing pleurisy and connective tissue damage as well."

Doctors have diagnosed Mrs Williams's condition as arthritis in the past. But the family eventually moved back to the US, where Mr Williams was born, so she could receive specialist treatment.

The couple's argument with Polycell and parent company ICI is back in front of a judge at Harrogate County Court on March 4. The solicitor who originally dealt with the case was from the town.

Mrs Williams is claiming expenses for her medical treatment and pressing for a ruling which would oblige Polycell to re-label its products.

A spokesman for Polycell said: "Polycell wallpaper paste is a well-known product which has been widely used for many years without any complaints of a similar nature."