THEY used to stare out of their windows across the estate.

But for the last 18 months, families have been living in a 'nightmare', being forced to look out on scaffolding, planks of wood and rubble.

Residents in Shirley Towers have hit out at developers who had set up a £27 million energy efficiency to transform 1,500 homes in the city.

The project was supposed to reduce household bills, provide jobs for local workers and give tenants energy-saving measures including new windows, new heating, and external wall insulation.

However, people living in the flats say they have been left to deal with a catalogue of failings a year and a half after work on the project started.

They say they have been left with no hot water, burnt carpets and windows blocked by gigantic lift masts. And some have been left out of pocket after not being properly reimbursed for damage to their property.

Now they are demanding answers as to why their block has been left in such a state.

Mum of two Marie Sanders said the last time she saw a workman on site was three months ago - but still has the scaffolding outside her window.

The 30 year old said: “I’m in constant darkness. I’d quite like it gone now. We’ve had to use more electricity so our bills have gone up. And we have had no hot water several times for the last year since they installed the new system. When you have got a baby and it’s now autumn that’s really difficult. Alex is on formula so it makes it really difficult washing his bottles.”

She added that, after workmen burnt holes in her carpet, British Gas left her £200 short of the cost of replacing it.

Mum of three Natasha Taylor, 29, said she has had to park up to two miles away as workmen’s vans are taking residents’ car parking spaces.

Natasha, whose partner works as an ambulance driver, said: “It’s a nightmare. It’s the second year it’s been there now. Now there’s mouldy food on the scaffolding and rubbish that people above are throwing out of their window.

“I don’t see why they can’t move them up a flight or two so that someone else can look at them”.

Neighbour Matthew Smith said residents should be offered compensation for the inconvenience the lift masts have caused. The 30 year old construction supervisor said: “It’s an eyesore. They’re there every morning when you open the curtains. Now they’ve finished working they should be moved”.

And Saints Foundation fundraiser Gary Jackson, 38, said he’s at least £45 out of pocket after his phone provider couldn’t install a phone line because of the scaffolding - but he’s still being charged for it. He said: “We should be reimbursed. They can’t get to the phone cabinet under the stairs because of the scaffolding. And I bet if this scaffolding was in front of their houses it wouldn’t be kept up that long. They’d want it down. We get kids climbing up them and I don’t really want that outside my window”.

And neighbour Myra Steele, 76, said she has had a leak for four months in her shed, which council workers have not fixed. She said: “We’ve had to throw out all my son’s football shirts because they were absolutely ruined. They’ve been out but haven’t been able to find where it’s coming from”.

But city housing boss Councillor Warwick Payne said the lift masts were in place as part of a £27m scheme to improve the block alongside others in the Thornhill, St Mary’s and Maybush which started in May 2016.

He said: “I wasn’t aware that work had stopped. I know that there are sprinklers being installed and they are being finished up.

“We are close to being finished and we are conducting quality control checks. We plan to be off site in the next couple of months and residents should start seeing the financial benefits to their heating and electricity bills this winter”.

A British Gas spokesperson said: ““We have not been made aware of any issues such as those described.”

The project has been done by Southampton City Council and British Gas as part of the Energy Companies Obligation government scheme.