A house in Gosberton Risegate left in sickening squalor by tenants from hell is almost resembling the once-loved family home it used to be – thanks to the generous support of volunteers.
Six weeks after a couple and their five children – living in stomach-churning filth with up to 14 mastiff dogs – were evicted the upstairs rooms have been deep-cleaned and painted and completion of the downstairs is just a month away.
Midge Clayton and partner Richard Douville were heartbroken when bailiffs finally handed them the keys to the four-bedroom house they built in Cheal Road and they saw the extent of the devastation, with rooms ripped apart and floors and walls caked in dog faeces and grime.
Since then friends have helped remove the rubbish and a professional cleaner and a painter and decorator have volunteered their time to help restore the house to its former glory.
Mr Douville said: “We’ve been overwhelmed at the generosity of people. We even had some paint donated by Boston police.
“The council’s been great taking the dog mess away. We must have shovelled up more than 100 bags of it.
“It’s fantastic to be nearly finished and we will definitely have a house-warming to say thank you to everyone when it is.”
The couple are still unsure whether they will be selling or moving in.
Mr Douville said: “We’ll put it on the market and then see. If it sells we’ll stay where we are, but if not we’ll move in and sell the bungalow.”
In the meantime it is understood the couple who were evicted, Louisa and Joe Roylance, are living in the area in rented accommodation.
They still owe £7,000 in rent arrears, but Mr Douville said he will have his day in court.
He said: “After what they’ve put us through, we have to.”