Leamington Spa couple face fourth year in unfinished house after handing over £50,000 to 'cowboy builder'

Jan 3 2011 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

A COUPLE and their young children are facing their FOURTH YEAR in an unfinished house after handing over £50,000 to a “cowboy builder”.

Sangeeta Bhatia and husband Rohit Prabhakar hired Paul Henstone to extend their home in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

But instead of creating a dream property, they claim the builder left a trail of destruction.

As a result, the couple were forced to live in just two rooms with children Bhavini, seven, and four year-old Dev, until paying £36,000 for another builder to complete most of the works.

Yet four years after employing Mr Henstone – previously described by one judge as a “cowboy builder” – the roof he fitted needs repairing, but the money has run out.

“We did finally get the house to a point where we can live in it, but we still need to get the roof sorted out,” said travel firm boss Mrs Bhatia, 39.

“Tiles keep falling off it but every roofer we have had out says they cannot quote a price without taking the whole thing off to see how Paul Henstone put it on.

“That could cost £10,000, £20,000 or more.

“But we’ve now run out of money, so we’ll have to wait while bits keep falling off.”