Trading standards have taken legal action after receiving 22 complaints from customers who had paid out nearly £250,000 for building work between them.

They say the complaints involve a catalogue of allegations, including leaving work in a dangerous state and damaging properties which left customers forced to pay for replacements and repairs.

In one instance, a family were left with an extension without a roof and a conservatory without any walls.

The companies involved were D and H Builders Ltd and H Builders Ltd.

Hitesh Chauhan, 41, of Belgrave, Leicester, is a secretary for D and H Builders Ltd and a director of the second company, H Builders Ltd.

Wife Dipika Chauhan, also 41, is listed as a director for both firms.

In a case brought by the city council's trading standards teams, Leicester County Court ordered Mr and Mrs Chauhan to ensure jobs they took on were carried out on time and to a reasonable standard.

After the hearing on Wednesday, it emerged one family is suing the couple and D and H Builders. Others are expected to follow suit.

Kirit Kataria, 49, who lives in Leicester with wife Bhavna and their three children, said his life became a "living prison" after he employed D and H Builders Ltd to extend his home.

Work started on the house in May 2007, the court heard.

Mr Chauhan "pestered" Mr Kataria for permission to take down the conservatory on the side of the house, in Uppingham Road, so he could get a JCB digger into the garden.

The court heard Mr Chauhan removed the conservatory walls – but two years later has not put them back.

The extension to the back of the Katarias' house still does not have a roof or windows.

A quantity surveyor employed by the Katarias said the value of the work completed so far amounted to £10,408, the court heard.

The Katarias paid the company about £30,000, and told the Mercury they are in the process of suing D and H Builders Ltd and Mr and Mrs Chauhan for nearly £24,000.

Trading standards officer Sarah Saunders said after the hearing that one of the company's clients was "living in half a house with no electricity and with no roof over their heads".

She added: "It's not just Mr Chauhan – there are other builders like him in the city and people need to be aware of them."

The 22 customers complained to trading standards over a two-and-a-half year period, from January 2006.

The county court served Mr and Mrs Chauhan with an enforcement order under the Enterprise Act 2002.

Caroline Frith, principal legal officer for the city council, said after the case: "The judge accepted substantial evidence from various consumers which showed that Mr and Mrs Chauhan and their company were not complying with laws designed to protect customers and traders. He was not working in a way which could be expected of a professional and conscientious builder.

"Often, once the majority of the contract price has been paid, the defendants abandon the work, fail to return to the property and leave consumers with – at best – an empty shell of an extension or less."

Both companies are listed as being overdue on their accounts.

Mr and Mrs Chauhan did not attend the court hearing, but Mr Chauhan spoke to the Leicester Mercury afterwards.

He said: "I have a contract for everything I do, and then we start having problems. They say we have done something wrong and then they don't pay up.

"Sometimes they want extra work doing and want it for next to nothing, which I can't do.

"Lots of builders are having the same problems as me.

"I did not know the court case was on Wednesday. I thought it was on Thursday and that's why I didn't turn up."

He added that Mr Kataria's contract did not require his company to put back the conservatory. He also said Mr Kataria withheld some payment.

When the Mercury visited the registered address of D and H Builders, in Gipsy Lane, Leicester, it was a barber's shop. The registered address of H Builders, in Brackenfield Way, Thurmaston, appeared to be an empty house.

If the council receives more complaints, the Chauhans can be taken to court again and given a fine of up to £5,000 for breaching a court order. In extreme cases, they could be sent to prison for a short period.