A family of asthma sufferers have had to wait six weeks for a housing association to repair their central heating.

Jayne Mustion, 35, of Port Hill Road, Benson, near Wallingford, said the delay by South Oxfordshire Housing Association (SOHA) was unacceptable as the cold made her children's asthma worse.

SOHA spokesman Lisa Morris apologised for the inconvenience but said the time taken had been reasonable.

Ms Mustion said her son, George, two, had been particularly affected by the lack of heating. Two of her other four children, Callum, 10, and Kylie, 13, also suffer from asthma.

The problem arose when a recently-fitted heating system overheated bricks near the chimney breast. SOHA arranged for the boiler to be removed but it took six weeks for contractors to start work lining the chimney with insulation.

Meanwhile, a gaping hole was left. Ms Mustion said she and her children had been wearing extra clothes to keep warm and using an immersion heater for hot water.

A separate problem with brickwork higher up the chimney breast has now been spotted and will also need fixing.

She said: "If I hadn't complained and chased them up, we would have been without heating for even longer."

She said she had withheld her £8 per fortnight rent for the three-bedroom house in protest. Mrs Morris said quotes from specialist contractors had to be obtained before the work could be carried out.

"These things take time," she said. "It's quite a complicated job. It's not straightforward."