A couple's dream home extension was left a roofless wreck thanks to a botched £13,000 build.
Kylie Thomas, 34, and husband David, 39, hired Mark Jones, 52, to build a new room at the rear of their family home last year.
The single-storey addition to the property near Stafford, West Midlands, was priced at £15,000 and was supposed to take a fortnight.
But months later, the couple's garden still contains a roofless wreck - leaving them feeling "stupid" and out of pocket.
Shocking pictures show half-built brick walls and materials strewn across a muddy patch of ground.
A packed green skip overflowing with debris and buckets has been left outside the front of the Staffordshire property.
Kylie and David, who have two children, said Mark asked for money upfront but then went off the radar.
And the pair claim that, since the ordeal, they have been told that he wasn’t qualified to do the promised work - and has been involved in similar situations previously.
But, when challenged, Mark says he contracted out the work to others - who let him down.
Nurse Kylie said: "This was a horrendous experience. It sapped our time, money, and energy and left us feeling stupid and upset.
"We both work very hard - we worked all through the pandemic. He's taken our money and ruined our garden, and left us with a wreck.
"When he asked for money I paid it, because it was getting colder and darker and I was worried the work wouldn’t get finished if I didn’t.
"We knew building materials were running low in the country, so we were really understanding about it."
Kylie and David hired Mark, the director of Chase Home Solutions, to build onto the sitting room of their 1960s townhouse last year.
They say he first visited the family home at the end of July and quoted them £15,000.
That cost would cover a three-by-three metre squared pitched roof extension and the replacement of windows in two upstairs rooms, it was said.
Kylie said she was impressed by Mark, so signed him up for the job - which he said would take a fortnight.
They scheduled the building work to start on September 6, and agreed the windows would be replaced beforehand.
Kylie says she repeatedly asked about planning permission and building regulations, but Mark said not to worry - because he would sort everything.
The trader then asked for £7,500 upfront, with a further £3,000 agreed for when the extension reached roof height.
The next £3,000 would be paid when the roof went on, it was decided, and the final £1,500 when the building had all the electricity in and passed regulations.
Kylie says she made the first payment on August 6 and, when Mark then asked for another £1,500 on August 27, she paid again.
But the builders didn't show up on the start day - as they were still on another job, according to Mark.
And the day after he said they couldn't come because there was a problem with the skip.
Two men finally appeared on September 8, holding shovels and pushing a wheelbarrow - but claiming Mark had refused to pay for a digger.
Kylie said a bricklayer then arrived and said the extension had not been measured correctly - meaning the couple would have to extend another 1.5 metres across the house.
This prompted Mark to ask for another £2,000 for the bigger extension, which was paid.
But it took the workers a further two weeks to dig and concrete the foundations - because they only showed up for a maximum of four hours a day, Kylie claims.
She said: “They told my neighbour they were worked into the ground on ours and working other jobs.
"They would do a little bit then say they had to go, often they blamed it on the weather.
"I never saw any materials stored at our property. The lads brought small amounts in the boot of their car.
"I think he was taking them from other projects. He said he kept them in a lockup, but much later his son told me he didn't have one."
Kylie then paid Mark another £1,000 on September 27, and another on October 5.
But, by then, the lads were only managing a couple of hours every few days - and Kylie was feeling desperate.
She told Mark she felt he had done them over, and he replied that they were having a few problems.
The builders never showed again - so Kylie asked for her money back on October 19.
Mark replied to say he'd call her later and they'd work all weekend on her house, she said.
But his call never came, and Kylie says that when she now dials the number she used to contact Mark a message says the phone is switched off.
Since then, six builders have looked at Kylie’s extension and agree it doesn't meet building regulations, she said.
They say it need to be torn down and should not have amounted to no more than five days effort, it is claimed.
Kylie also alleges that she and David then went to Mark's flat on October 21, where a man - estimated to be in his 20s and calling himself Mark's son - answered the door.
She said: “I explained what had happened and he didn’t know what to do with himself. He said, ‘oh god, not that again'."
Kylie posted on a local Facebook chat and five other families came forward with similar stories.
"This has been incredibly stressful," she said. "It's such a mess, and we don't have loads of money.
"People need to be aware that there are cowboys like him out there. There's no way we could have known - he seemed so professional.
"I wouldn't pay all that money upfront again. Every business should have enough in the account to buy materials."
When confronted with Kylie's claims, Mark said: “During the pandemic I put £25,000 of my own money into starting a building business.
"I sub-contracted the work and paid them in advance. One build failed an inspection, and another was completely incorrect.
"It snowballed on social media very quickly. Kylie was one of my customers and I apologised to her mother and offered to put her work right, but they wouldn’t let me.
"I lost all the contracts and have been left with £45,000 debt and my company is not viable.
"I really feel for Kylie. The builders have let everyone down. Both have changed their phone numbers and one has closed down his business.”
