A housebuilder was forced to pay £7m to compensate customers for poorly built homes.

Bovis Homes, who built Foley Green at Abbotswood Park, in Leavesden, was forced to take action after customers were left out of pocket by fixing faults in their newly-built homes.

More than 1,400 angry homeowners created a Facebook group bemoaning the state of their houses, forcing boss Earl Sibley to make a formal apology.

On Monday, the interim chief executive apologised for the poor quality of the properties and promised he would “make sure [we] finish their homes to satisfaction”.

Customers, who complained of no guttering, half-finished tiling and faulty plumbing, took to the Facebook Group, Bovis Homes Victims Group, to demand that builders return and fix their homes.

They accused Bovis of pressuring them to move in to incomplete houses in order to hit sales targets, and were planning to protest at the company’s meeting in Tunbridge Wells, in May.

The £7m provision will cover remedial work and compensation for affected customers, and Bovis has announced a raft of measures to improve services.

These include more staff to deal with complaints, the creation of a dedicated homebuyers’ panel and an improved quality assurance process.

Bovis admitted customer service standards "fell significantly" during 2016 after being dogged by complaints over homes that were sold unfinished.

It said: "Our customer service standards have been declining for some time and combined with the delays to production towards the year end, we have entered 2017 with a high level of customer service issues.

"Our customer service proposition has failed to ensure that all of our customers receive the expected high standard of care."

Have you been affected? Email emma.duggan@london.newsquest.co.uk.