A NORTH YORKSHIRE woman could not believe her eyes when her newly-fitted kitchen changed colour.

Nancy Huggins's £4,000 kitchen went from cream to salmon pink only a few months after it was installed at her home in Sandy Rise, Brayton.

DIY store giant B&Q blamed the bizarre colour change on smoke and nicotine from cigarettes - and pointed out that Mrs Huggins was a smoker.

But supermarket worker Mrs Huggins was celebrating today after being awarded more than £4,000 in compensation and damages after taking legal action against B&Q.

The sorry saga, which she described as a "total nightmare", began after she bought the Deauville kitchen from B&Q's York store in September 2000.

She said: "It was like having an alien in the kitchen. At first I thought it was my imagination.

"I used to go around the kitchen with a tile that originally matched it to compare colours.

"My husband thought I was going crazy when every morning I came downstairs and said the colour had changed."

The kitchen unit panels gradually began to discolour and also emitted a "bad smell", which she describes as similar to warm paint.

B&Q replaced the kitchen in May last year after repeated complaints by Mrs Huggins - but when she returned from holiday in August she found the discoloration and smell had returned.

She demanded a refund, but B&Q refused, claiming the problem was not a manufacturing defect, and instead offered a replacement kitchen.

In documents submitted to York County Court, B&Q said their quality control engineers had conducted tests, which confirmed the pink tint was consistent with the fascias being exposed to cigarette smoke/nicotine.

The company also said its engineer could not detect any odour when he visited Mrs Huggins's kitchen.

Mrs Huggins, who works at Selby's Somerfield supermarket, said no warnings were given about the possible effects of cigarette smoke on the units.

She was awarded £3,909 compensation for the original cost of the kitchen and £250 damages for inconvenience.

A B&Q spokesman said: "We totally accept the court's decision and apologise to Mr and Mrs Huggins.

"If customers approach us with a problem we try to do everything we can to put things right."

Updated: 11:36 Monday, March 04, 2002