A pensioner is still waiting for repairs to start on her home which was devastated by last summer's floods.

Lesley Lovell's house in The Causeway, Steventon, was submerged under 4ins of water on July 20 last year following torrential downpours.

However, Ms Lovell, 68, is still waiting for insurers to allow work to start on the 100-year-old property and has not been told when it will begin.

Last nightWeds, April 9, she said Direct Line Insurance had ignored many of her pleas for help.

Ms Lovell said she was forced to stay in her home for three months after the floods as no other accommodation was found for her.

And she claimed that when a building firm cleared her house in July, a builder burst her gas pipe and she suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

She was eventually rehoused in a flat in Thames Court, Abingdon.

Ms Lovell said: "I started to get ill and got more sick and nauseous.

"I lost interest in food and would eat a few handfuls of nuts and a glass of wine.

"I normally eat quite well, but I just went to bed and felt so sick and dizzy.

"I thought I could smell the gas but nobody else could and they just told me I was upset because it is my home and it's where I had my children.

"I was totally ignored and for three months every phone call was left unanswered."

Divorced Ms Lovell said she suffers with bouts of depression every time she returns to her house, which she has lived in for 40 years.

She said: "My house is deteriorating, mould is growing on damp walls upstairs and pools of water spread over the floors every time it rains.

"One exposed wet internal wall is growing a nice little clematis.

"As others returned to repaired homes in November I was at last allowed to leave, but then rats got in and damaged the boiler. I must pay for a new one. It depresses me too much to return even for short visits."

Lizzie Harrison, a spokesman for Direct Line, said: "We are sorry Ms Lovell is unhappy with the way her claim has been handled.

"We are looking into this as a matter of urgency and hope to have an update as soon as possible."