ANGRY residents took a carpenter hostage in the war over their kitchen renovations.

The battle began three weeks ago when contractors working for Affinity Sutton housing association began stripping out kitchens in Uplands Road, Orpington.

People living in the homes were told they would have brand new fully functioning kitchens within the three weeks deadline.

But since then they say they have been living a nightmare with workmen coming to their homes for two hours at a time and then disappearing for days without finishing work.

News Shopper: Linda Goldsmith is unhappy with her kitchen renovation works

Linda Goldsmith, 49, had enough when the carpenter working in her kitchen said he needed to leave to get a missing part.

She said: “I thought I would not see him again so I said he wasn’t to leave.

“He tried to get out using his car but we surrounded it and would not let him leave.

“My friend phoned the site manager and said we have a hostage situation until he came down and it was sorted out.”

Sue Hall has been going round her street with a clipboard to take notes of people’s problems.

The 55-year-old says they include workers cementing a woman’s cooker in and tiling which was done a few days ago already coming off the wall.

She said: “What they should have done is three houses at a time and finished them.

“But instead of doing houses and getting them finished they are here, there and everywhere.

“I’d like to go in my kitchen now and get a sledgehammer. They are useless, absolutely useless.”

News Shopper: Tenants in Uplands Road are having new kitchens fitted

Affinity Sutton’s property investment director Jeremy Kape said: “As a business for social purpose we invested more than £86m in improving our homes last year and work with our partner contractors to deliver repairs and improvements.

“This year we are looking to spend around £16m on fitting more than 3,000 new kitchens and 1,600 new bathrooms as part of our work to ensure all our homes meet the decent homes standard.

“We have clear service standards and take complaints extremely seriously.

“Overall our residents have been very satisfied with this work and our customer satisfaction currently stands at more than 80 per cent.

“We have however been made aware of a small number of complaints and are extremely sorry for the problems these residents have experienced.

“We are working with Apollo to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”

Apollo’s divisional director Tony Kemp said: “Resident satisfaction is our top priority and we are pleased to confirm that recent surveys show this to be high in most cases.

"We are always disappointed to hear about instances where residents are unhappy and make every effort to ensure these matters are dealt with as efficiently as possible.”