Les and Christine Vaughan in their kitchen (17030)HAVING spent 30 years in military quarters Les and Christine Vaughan were looking forward to finding a dream home in England.

After moving into a £130,000 bungalow in Shelley Gardens, Melksham, last summer they got to work on making it their own, ready for retirement.

But the dream came to a stuttering halt when it came to the kitchen, leaving them wishing they had never come back to home shores.

Ordering a £3,500 kitchen from The Kitchen Studio, Trowbridge, the couple were told it would be delivered on April 5 and fitted the next day.

Although the kitchen came on time, the fitter arrived a week late only to discover the wrong wood had been ordered, pieces were missing and the sink unit was the wrong size.

Despite repeated calls to the firm's Trowbridge branch, and headquarters in Bolton, the couple were left without a kitchen for more than a month.

Even when the right pieces arrived they were told a fitter could not be organised until July.

Mr Vaughan, 55, who served as a warrant officer with the Royal Logistics Corp in Germany, said even making cups of tea became a chore, with the microwave and kettle in the conservatory and tinned food clogging up their dining room table.

"We wanted this to be a relaxing, restful home. We wanted to be living near our parents and put our mark on somewhere after 30 years in military quarters," he said. "We have been working our way around the house but have stopped at the kitchen.

"It is a daily talking point and a common rowing point. We have been walking on eggshells with each other."

Mr Vaughan said it took about 20 phone calls, several letters and a complaint to consumer show Watchdog, before the company sent out the right parts and organised fitters, who were working at their home last week.

"It was the sheer frustration of them not getting back to us. I felt like driving to Bolton to take them on. That is how bad I felt.

"I am used to inconvenience in the forces but this was not acceptable. I do wish we had never come back. I would trade all this for a three year posting if it wasn't for my family being around here."

Paul Clifford, managing director of The Kitchen Studio, said the delays were down to a genuine misunderstanding between the Vaughans and a sales assistant, about the type and design of kitchen they wanted.

He said: "I am sorry to hear that Mr and Mrs Vaughan are unhappy with the service they have received.

"We do take this seriously, as our aim is to consistently design and deliver high standard kitchens with as little disruption to the customer as possible."

Mr Clifford said the sales assistant had misunderstood what the couple were asking for, but the firm tried to rectify the problem by sending out an area manager for a home visit and reordering the right wooden panels at the firm's expense.