THE family of a terminally ill boy are waiting for vital work to be completed on their property so they can bring him home for a special family Christmas.

Naveed Hafeez, aged 12, who has incurable heart and lung conditions, has been a patient at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in Pendlebury for almost a year.

His parents, Heena and Hafeez, have been told Naveed isn’t well enough to have further surgery and are desperate to bring him home to Crescent Road, Marland, for what is expected to be their last Christmas together.

First they must wait for work to be completed to get rid of a foul smell affecting the top floor of their home.

The family first noticed the pungent animal urine stench three weeks ago when central heating was installed.

They say they had been asking Rochdale Boroughwide Housing for the past three years to install central heating and double glazing to bring their home up to the same standard as other RBH properties in the same area.

When workmen finally installed central heating several weeks ago, they discovered piles of cat litter, pet hairs, remnants of animal faeces and food and insect shells in the cavity underneath the floorboards.

The floorboards, which appeared to have been harbouring the stench, are now being replaced and the mess cleared away. Double glazing will also installed in the house next year.

The boy’s father said: "It was devastating to know that our child has been sleeping in that room, playing on the carpet just centimetres away from all that for so long.

"They could have done the improvements three years ago when we first asked. I feel it’s taken for Naveed to be ill for them to listen to us.

"We’re missing out on spending quality time with him, too, because we have to be there for them to do the work."

Despite requiring heart surgery when he was first born, Naveed was always relatively healthy until earlier this year when he fell ill with a sniffle, which rapidly became so bad that his lung collapsed. His health continued to deteriorate and he has been in hospital ever since.

Naveed’s parents are determined to make his life as normal as possible and take him out as much as they can, even though he must take a heavy oxygen canister with him.

His mother said: "We never treat him like a sick child, we treat him like any other normal child and try to give him a really nice life. He would love to be at home for Christmas."

RBH director of operations, Andrew Toft, said: "All RBH staff dealing with Mr Hafeez have dealt with the situation as sympathetically as possible. In fact, although the central heating was scheduled to be installed in 2010 as part of a programme of improvements, we have brought this work forward. However, it is only since preparation work for the heating was carried out that the problem of strong odours emanating from the floorboards came to light.

"We have dealt with the problem and have now completed the replacement of floorboards in the affected areas. This will ensure that Naveed comes home to a warm and welcoming environment for Christmas.

"We have also carried out a significant number of repairs to the property at the request of Mr Hafeez, including providing extra sockets for medical equipment and we will continue to cooperate with the family to ensure we meet their needs."