A grandfather who woke up to find his bedroom flooded has been forced to sleep on the floor in his living room after “rancid” mould began eating away at the walls.

Heavy rain in December left Edwin Evans, of Layfield Close, Hendon, ankle deep in rainwater in his bungalow - and Barnet Homes supplied him with a humidifier to help dry it out.

The house is still not dry, and thick clumps of black mould have since appeared on the walls – but Mr Evans claims a contractor told him the problem cannot be fixed until May.

However, Barnet Homes claims Mr Evans recently told them he was satisfied with the progress of the repairs.

Despite being disabled, Mr Evans, 77, says he now sleeps in his front room and has spent more than two months of “agonising” nights on the floor.

Mr Evans said: “It’s ridiculous – it’s been left for weeks. I have tried not to make a fuss of it but it’s exhausting and incredibly frustrating.

“The mould on the walls smells rotten and rancid and it makes me gag. That’s no way for an elderly man to live.

“Sleeping on the floor has been very awkward. I feel uncomfortable all the time, it is pure agony. I’m not an idiot and I won’t stand for this.”

Mr Evans' carpet has also been destroyed by the rainwater and he is concerned he will be forced to pay to replace it himself.

The retired Barnet Council worker claims contractors have told him the mould will be wiped clean and painted over – but he fears this is only a temporary solution.

But until then, he is forced to continue sleeping on the floor to avoid inhaling the potentially toxic mould.

He said: “I don’t want them to paint it over – I began shouting at the contractor who told me that. It’s unacceptable.

“When mould gets into the plaster it spreads up, eats away at it and rots the wall. Is it to do with cutbacks?

“It’s disgusting. How can they leave me like this?”

A statement from Barnet Homes said: “Mr Evans’s bedroom experienced minor water penetration coming in from the external walls during exceedingly heavy rainfall and subsequent flash flooding back in December 2013.

“Since then, we have kept Mr  Evans fully informed on the repairs required to the bedroom as a result of the flash flood, as well as additional repairs to the bedroom ceiling which are not connected to the flood damage.

"In our most recent conversation with Mr Evans, he was completely satisfied with the progress of the repairs.

“To provide more detail, we did a survey in January 2014 and as a result we have started work on repairing two courses of damaged brick work and installing external drainage along the affected wall to reduce the impact of flash flooding in the future.

“Re-pointing work to the external wall was raised with Mears on January 28, 2014 and completed on March 27, 2014. The external drainage work is taking place in May and is expected to take two working days. Once this is completed we will re-decorate the affected area.”