AN ANDOVER couple have been left frustrated and embarrassed to use their garden since their housing association landlord refused to repair their badly broken fence.

John and Elizabeth Phillips, of Charnwood Close, moved to Andover from Bournemouth in January when they requested to swap their Aster properties because they wanted a garden.

Now that they have a garden, they cannot use it because the damaged fence is too unsightly.

Mrs Phillips, who is a nurse, said: “It is not a nice sight. It affects your home life in general. I feel embarrassed to have my family, friends and colleagues around to the house.

“I had to hire a function room out to have a barbecue.”

The dilapidated fence has also rendered their garden too unsafe for their grandchildren to play in when they visit.

The 56-year-old added: “I’ve got five grandchildren and when they come I won’t allow them near the fence, I can’t let them outside in the garden.”

The wooden-panelled fence surrounds their rear garden running alongside Hedge End Road.

It was damaged before they moved into the property, becoming worse during the storms earlier in the year. It is no longer self-supporting as it rests on the telegraph pole, and they cannot lock the gate.

They have called Aster numerous times to report the damage and were recently told that the fence would be taken down but would not be replaced as there was not enough money in the budget.

Mother-of-three Mrs Phillips said: “What frustrates us is that we are paying rent and never miss a payment. It is ridiculous; I am very upset about it because I’m doing nights to try and make some money to buy a new fence. It is not on.

“Where we were before they did anything that we needed doing promptly and properly but here they haven’t. We wanted to make it look nice but we can’t until they fix the fence.”

Aster said: “We have inspected the fence and successfully removed it last Monday. This fence is scheduled to be replaced as part of our planned maintenance works and we will confirm a date this will take place to our customers in due course.”