A watchdog has slammed Norwich City Council for ruling the state of a flat affected by mould and damp had not got any worse - despite not visiting the home to check.

City Hall was ordered by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to pay compensation to the woman who lived there.

The woman, known as Ms X in the ombudsman's report, had contacted the Labour-controlled council in March 2021 about damp at her privately rented flat.

The council, which has a duty to inspect homes if people raise concerns, visited her flat in August 2021 and identified damp and mould.

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The council made recommendations to the landlord, including correcting defects and installing a fan, which was done.

But Ms X contacted the council again in November 2021 to say it was still damp.

The council said it would visit six months after the August 2021 inspection, in which time the landlord did more work on the roof and gutters.

In March 2022 a council officer said there was no significant deterioration in the condition of the property to warrant reclassifying the hazards - but the ombudsman found they had not visited the flat to check.

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In February 2023, after the property was sold to a new landlord who had carried out further work, the council did go back - and concluded the situation had not worsened, so no formal action would be taken.

Ms X complained to the ombudsman, who said the council was at fault in failing to complete the promised six-month visit and concluding the situation had not deteriorated without carrying out a check.

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The ombudsman ordered the council to apologise and pay £200 to Ms X.

A city council spokesman said: "The council has accepted the finding and is disappointed its service fell short of our normal high standards in this case.

"While a follow-up visit didn’t find a deterioration of the hazards, and the ombudsman didn’t find fault with our decision to take informal action in response, this should have been completed sooner."