A FAMILY is calling on an insurance company to knock down their West Swindon home and start again.

Cracks started to appear in the structure of the 17-year-old house in Golds-borough Close three years ago and the problem has gradually grown worse.

Alison Barrett, who shares the house with her husband Phil and three children Matthew, 17, Hannah, 15 and Richard, 12, said she has become fed up with waiting.

"When we first noticed the cracks, we did not think anything of it," she said. "My husband just plastered over them while he was decorating the house.

"But six months later the cracks re-appeared and we realised that this was a real problem and getting worse."

Shortly afterwards, the couple contacted their insurers, The Prudential, who in turn employed the services of Bristol-based insurance assessors Cun-ningham Lindsey to monitor the problem.

It carried out a survey of the ground near the house, but was unable to identify a specific cause for the subsidence .

Nursery manager Alison, 43, who has lived in the house for 12 years, said: "We feel that the building is beyond repair and we obviously can't sell it .

"We don't want them to underpin the house, because we don't think this would solve the problem. What we would like is for the insurance company to pay for the house to be rebuilt. There are cracks in all of the walls so it would make more sense to start again.

"We have been told by the structural engineers that we will have to wait until February 2002 for a decision on what will happen. I hope that we don't have to put up with this situation much longer, I am annoyed that it has taken this long."

The couple raised concerns about their home at the last West Swindon area panel meeting, where councillor Nick Martin (Con, Shaw and Nine Elms) said he would call for an investigation.

He said:"Some of the residents mentioned that their homes shook from the force of the HGVs travelling along Whitehill Way. and other residents mentioned that their homes had suffered from cracking.

"I imagine that the problem is caused by some form of land fault or perhaps there is a storm drain there which is causing subsidence."

Coun Martin said he had approached council officers to examine the problem in detail and expects them to provide a report for the next meeting of the West Swindon Area Panel at the Link Centre at 7pm on January 3.

Tracey Pinon, a spokeswoman for Prudential, said: "The repairs will take place in March 2002 at the latest."