A CAISTER couple say their lives are being ruined by a new homes development which is whipping up dust storms that are covering their back garden in dirt and grime.

A CAISTER couple say their lives are being ruined by a new homes development which is whipping up dust storms that are covering their back garden in dirt and grime.

Chris and Jean Wilmshaw, of Queensway, said at times the dust from the Bloor Homes development in West Road was so dense they could not breathe if they went into their garden.

Mrs Wilmshaw, 62, said the problems were particularly bad on dry, windy days when there was no rain to dampen down the clay surface of the development site.

She added she telephoned Bloor Homes after the dust storms struck again during high winds at the weekend and was told there was nobody on site to drive the water tanker used to dampen the surface.

“All summer we could not open our back windows. We could not have our windows open, we could not put our washing out to dry, we could not sit in our back garden. It was just ridiculous,” she said.

The national home builder is developing 150 homes on marshland off West Road, but Mrs Wilmshaw, who has lived in her property for three years, said the dust was affecting all homes in Queensway, as well as properties in West Road.

She said officials from the borough council's environmental health department had visited the site to see if the developer was breaching pollution regulations.

No-one from Bloor Homes or the borough environmental health department was available for comment.