As Ian and Margaret were out delivering Christmas presents on the Saturday before Christmas they received a phone call from their son Mark asking them to return home quickly because the Fire Brigade were there.

On return to their house – which they had only moved into in August – the Hawick couple were met with heart-breaking scenes. Water had flooded most of the home, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

But despite many townspeople rallying round to support their cause, repeated calls to Persimmon Homes, who own the housing scheme, fell on deaf ears. The Landles were among a number of families who were affected by the burst pipes.

Speaking to the Hawick News this week, a frustrated Ian said: "We cannot adequately express our gratitude to all the people who helped us. Family, neighbours, friends and local tradesmen have all been fantastic and we cannot praise them enough.

"Hawick folk rallied round to great effect in what was a very traumatic situation for us."

However, Ian added: "Throughout this whole sorry saga, Persimmon have been conspicuous by their indifference and their absence. They obviously had no cover during the Christmas holiday period and we were very much left to fend for ourselves. The company were quick to take our money when we bought the house, but since then they have been very poor in their after-sales service."

Their views were shared by a number of other residents who were affected.

Garry Douglas claimed: "There hasn't been enough insulation put in our loft and that has caused a lot of damage. We tried repeatedly to contact Persimmon, but with no joy. There is obvious concern amongst other neighbours that the poor level of insulation will be common in all the new houses in this area."

Hawick and Hermitage councillor David Patterson has sent a strongly-worded letter of complaint to Patsy McLaren, sales director at Persimmon Homes.

In the letter, he writes: "I am more than a little concerned at the large number of my constituents that have recently been subjected to either burst pipes or water that has been frozen in Paterson Gardens, while I admit that we did have cold weather just before Christmas I would not have expected so many new houses to have had so many problems in the same scheme.

"I have been a councillor for over 19 years and I have never ever came across anything remotely like this with new houses."

Despite a Hawick News request for a statement from Persimmon Homes, no statement had been received at the time of going to press.