TWINS with life-threatening heart conditions are living in a mouldy flat medics say could threaten their health - but the housing association says their beds are too close to the window.

Nine-year-olds Sophie and Emily Thomson have battled heart surgery four times between them and their doctor has warned living in the East End flat - which has mould on two bedroom windows -could make them worse.

Emily, who has undergone three operations and is facing a fourth, struggles to get up stairs without getting out of breath, her mum Amanda, 30, said.

She said the pair suffer endless infections and coughs and the family fears the mould that riddles their bedroom window in the two-bedroomWestmuir Street flat is affecting their health.

The twins’ GP has said their accommodation needs to be”more roomy and well ventilated” but the family has been given a zero rating by Parkhead Housing Association (PHA) in terms of medical reasons for them to be moved.

They have been trying to get PHA to fix the mould in their bedroom and Amanda’s for seven years but, following the latest inspection on Friday, technical manager Miles Miller said it could be caused by the twins’ bunk beds being too close to the window.

The family says there is nowhere else the bunk beds will fit, as they are in the broadest part of the room.

Stepdad Robert McMurray, 29, said they put in an application for a new house in March - backed by doctors’ letters and an endorsement from MSP John Mason - but PHA lost the documents.

They had to put in a second application last month but have been sent a letter from the housing association giving them a zero rating in terms of medical reasons to be moved.

Robert said: “The two girls are getting infections all the time.

“Every day they have another health problem. They don’t want to come home, they want to go to their gran’s.

“For the past two years they are constantly going to the doctor’s with chest infections and coughs.”

The non-identical twins were diagnosed with holes in the heart when Amanda was pregnant and Emily, who has had open heart surgery three times to fix a narrowing of the aorta - the first at just one day old - struggles with breathlessness.

She is facing an operation to have a metal valve fitted to her heart when she is 18 to fix her aorta.

Sophie, who had open heart surgery when she was two days old, also battles constant infections and coughs, Amanda said.

She had her first operation when she was two days old and another when she was two months old to fit a balloon in to stretch her aorta.

“They are constantly on antibiotics,” she said. “They just keep passing things on to each other, it’s a constant circle.

“Emily can walk up stairs and she’s gasping

“Sophie has eczema really bad and the doctor said mould makes it ten times worse.”

A report by environmental health officer for Glasgow City Council Scott Walker in April found evidence of dampness which he said could be “due to defective windows and inadequate ventilation.”

“As your children suffer from medical conditions, I believe the conditions could be detrimental to the health of your children,” he wrote.

Dr Muhammad Achtar, of Eglinton medical centre, wrote in support of the family’ request for a move.

In a letter seen by the Evening Times, he said: “The two children have had many heart operations over the years. They need to lead a more healthy lifestyle compared to children who do not have cardiac problems.

“I am told there is mould growth which is likely to upset their respiratory systems. This may cause breathlessness. Their accommodation needs to be more roomy, well ventilated and heated.”

In the latest inspection of the mould, PHA technical manager Miles Miller said: “My opinion is this is condensation.

“It could be caused by a few things, even having the beds in close proximity to the window.

“There are no problems elsewhere in the building, we’ve not had any other complaints.

“If the window is closed and there are two children in here, it’s condensation.”

He said he could not find any problem with the fabric of the building, which is around 20 years old.

He added that a can of spray paint designed to cover mould, found left in the family’s flat on a previous occasion, was his own - intended for use on a leak above his bathroom and not for the flat.

Mr Miller said any request to be moved to another house would be dealt with by a housing officer and he was purely there to do a structural inspection.

He added: “Whether the room is over-occupied is not for me to say.”

Baillie John McLaughlin, who was also present for Friday’s inspection, advised the family to ask PHA for an urgent reassessment of their application.

Gran Caron (CORR) Thomson, who lives in Bargeddie, has the twins most weekends.

She said: “It’s disgusting.

“The smell of dampness is always on their clothes. I have to wash them before they can put their clothes on.”

A spokesman for PHA confirmed they had joint assessment with environmental health.

He said they would review the medical rating this week and said the housing manager had contacted the family about a re-assessment later on Friday.

He added: "We are awaiting the official GCC report however we both concluded on the day that there was one location on the window where there was a high dampness reading.

"Should the most recent investigation suggest a defective window we would of course replace it if that was the appropriate solution.

"Unfortunately due to an administrative error on our part the original housing transfer application was not loaded onto our system. This has now been rectified and our housing manager will apologise to Mrs Thomson in person when they meet this week."