Powys County Council has been criticised for not taking action after a young family said Storm Barra has ruined their Christmas.

Amie James Kerr and her partner, Connor Evans, live in a council house in Llanidloes, with their two-month-old daughter and two-year-old son.

When Storm Barra battered mid Wales on 7 December, the young family awoke to a flooded house. The fire service drained the water, but Amie said the “downstairs is going to have to be ripped out”.

Amie said they warned the council about potential flooding issues in December 2020: “We have three drains in our garden.

“We told the council this time last year that the water was coming up high and wasn’t draining.”

Initially, after the flooding, Powys County Council offered the family two nights in a bed and breakfast, which is also a pub, to the family. But due to the young age of her children, Amie said this would be unsuitable and they would have to stay in their damp family home.

The council have now offered the family a temporary house.

However, Amie, who also suffers with Scoliosis, said they have had issues with their house since first moving in 11 months ago: “We already paid £2,400 to have the house re-floored when we first moved in, we had to pay £400 for my son’s room to be re-plastered because it was mouldy, and we’ve just had to pay £70 for pest control because we’ve got rats in our attic – which we’ve been told is not our fault as there is a hole in the roof.”

Amie added: “It’s disgusting how the council have left a family with two young children, one classed as a new born baby, in a house that’s like this.

“Somebody needs to be accountable for it. Our family’s Christmas is ruined. I’ve got a little boy who wants to wake up to a Christmas tree and a nice family day, and I can’t provide that anymore.”

Llanidloes Councillor Gareth Morgan visited the family on the morning of the flood and described the house as a “swamp”.

While the family have been offered other accommodation, Cllr Morgan said they were “apprehensive” about its rural location and the fact that Amie may not be able to take her young son to nursery. As this is only temporary accommodation, the family are “uncertain as to the next step”.

Cllr Morgan said this is not an isolated incident, adding he receives “many complaints” from residents about the “poor” Powys Council housing department: “It causes immense anxiety for my people. If I don’t care and try for them, who’s going to?”

A spokesperson for Powys County Council said they have sourced alternative accommodation for the family, which they moved into on Friday, 10 December, adding that “at no point did Powys County Council refuse to assist this family with their situation”.

However, the council are yet to comment on their previous inaction.