A tenant has received an apology after a "misunderstanding" over a house swap scheme caused her months of anxiety.

Annabelle Knight, 39, of Hillyfields in Loughton, had fallen out with a neighbour, so decided to try the website Homeswapper, which enables council tenants to exchange properties.

She was delighted to find a property in June, but says she was initially told she would have to replace two windows for the swap to go through.

However, she was later sent a list of further required changes, which included the demolition of a partition wall, which was put in before she moved in, and new doors.

The council disputed this, claiming it was a fire hazard, despite the authority fitting it with gas and electricity points just months earlier.

Miss Knight said: "The wall was here when I moved in 2004, and the council kept saying it wasn't.

"It really upset me and gave me anxiety. It would have cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands to knock down and we didn't even put it up."

The district council now apologised to Miss Knight, claiming there was a misunderstanding about the situation.

A spokeman said: "After looking into this matter further we have now discovered that the partition wall in this property was in fact constructed before the current tenant moved in.”

For more on this story, see next week's Guardian