A KIDDERMINSTER homeowner is warning others about builder search sites after his home renovation plans turned into a nightmare.

Historian Philip Rose, aged 44, of Yew Tree Road, says he experienced a breakdown after hiring a tradesman, who was later banned from MyBuilder.com.

Last year the homeowner used the website to find a builder, paying him £6,500 to get his newly-bought kitchen fitted and bathroom renovated.

Philip says he contacted the website after the builder and workmen "created chaos" by damaging units, failing to grout kitchen floor tiles, and installing incorrect pipework when work started in October 2018.

Philip said: "Everything he touched was wrong. The bathroom is worse than it was before.

"I feel I've been really hard done by. You think you're in safe hands but you're not.

"I had a breakdown, the stress has pushed me over the edge. It turned into an utter nightmare."

In a report by another renovations service, which repaired Philip's kitchen for a further £2,800, they identified issues including floor tiles that were not grouted under kitchen units, poorly fitted worktops and leaking pipes under the sink.

Philip sent photographs to MyBuilder and they later decided to close the builder's account "in light of the evidence", contacting other customers who shortlisted his company.

In the months that followed Philip spotted that the builder was using different accounts, using the same text and photographs.

The company told Philip: "We’ve reviewed the tradesperson’s account and decided to stop them from winning work within the MyBuilder community."

It said that builders wanting to sign up "go through an ID check and an online evaluation of their skills".

A county court judgement was issued to the builder, who has been ordered to repay Philip £4,200, but no money has been received.

Philip is now warning other people to be cautious when using builder search sites.

A MyBuilder spokesman said: "We can confirm the tradesperson was banned and we continue to monitor the situation.

“We hate to hear about projects that have gone wrong for reasons outside our control.

"We have a comprehensive trade evaluation process for applicants which is regularly updated and refined.

"Tradespeople must pass ID and background information checks.

"We monitor approved tradespeople who are also subjected to continuous vetting by users like Mr Rose through our feedback system.

"We have 80,000 registered tradespeople and 120,000 jobs are posted every month.

"Nearly 97 per cent of all user feedback is positive, which suggests the vast majority of people find good, reliable tradespeople through our platform."