A Darlington woman who has been plagued by sewage coming up out of her sink and shower for three years says her life has become "a nightmare".

Wendy Robinson is unable to use the bathroom in her house on Ash Lane in Low Coniscliffe whever sewage makes it unusable.

Every few months the toilet backs up and floods her sink and shower with awful smelling waste.

Ms Robinson has reported the problem to her housing association, Beyond Housing, and Robertson, the builders of her home, but none of the fixes seem to work for long.

She fears there may be something permanently wrong with the sewerge system in her house.

She said: "I'm having a huge problem. We have got to the state now where my family and I all feel that we have to go to the newspapers or the MP.

"It's been going on since I moved in three-and-a-half years ago."

The house was brand new when Ms Robinson moved in.

"It was just a few months before I realised that there was a problem," she said.

"My son has had to come over regularly to help because it takes so long to get the builders out.

"Every time it happens Beyond say they will get in touch with Robertson, the builders, and then they don't get back in touch for weeks.

"When they do come up and fix it the blockage starts again in a few months.

"It's hard to talk about but the sewage comes up out of the sink and the plughole of the shower.

"The smell is awful and I can't use the bathroom. I would have had to move out of this house if my son was not around to come and help."

She added: "It's been incredibly stressful."

A spokesperson for Beyond Housing, said: "We are sorry that this is causing issues for our customer.

"We are investigating to determine the cause of the recurrent incidents and will continue to keep the customer fully informed."