A Whitehaven resident said he is "at his wits' end" after trying for months to get his door secured by his landlord after it was damaged during a break-in.

William Dalton, brother of rugby league legend Jimmy Dalton, who played for Whitehaven Rugby League Club and died in 2016, said he has been trying since April last year to get the door secured.

He has spoken out in frustration over the length of time it is taking his landlord to secure the door at his shared accommodation.

Mr Dalton said an outside communal door to his property was broken in April and now he feels unsafe.

He said he has lost count of the number of time he has reported it to landlord Home Group, by emails or telephone and they have still have not fixed it.

He said: "The door is now open to the public and people have been coming in and using needles and urinating."

He added: "I'm at my wits' end.

"There is no lock, no door handle or anything, just a bit of string to open it with."

Mr Dalton said over the last nine months he has sent many emails, but has had no joy in managing to get the door fixed.

He was advised to go to the police and get a crime number after the break-in, in which a number of cables were cut, including television cables.

After obtaining the crime number he got back to Home Group and was told that they wouldn't come out to fix it until the pandemic was over.

In desperation he contacted Copeland Borough Council, but as Mr Dalton is a tenant of a private landlord there was little they could do.

The Copeland Borough Council housing team referred the matter to Home Group as landlords to resolve.

Mr Dalton, 56, said he is frightened that someone will come in and damage the property again.

He said he was allocated a case officer by Home Group, but the case officer will not respond to his communication.

Mr Dalton said: "She just won't answer my calls."

After hearing about Mr Dalton's case, Louise Barkes, head of maintenance at Home Group, apologised to Mr Dalton and said there has been an unacceptable communications breakdown between Home Group and the contractor.

She said: “I’m really sorry to hear about the problems our customer has faced and offer a complete apology on behalf of Home Group.

“I’ve investigated the problem and there has been an unacceptable communications breakdown between ourselves and the contractor appointed to carry out the work, resulting in the significant delay.

“We are committed to getting the door fixed as quickly as possible and, following a temporary solution put in place today to secure it, we will ensure a permanent fix is implemented in the next few weeks.”