A mum has been homeless for a month after Bromley Council failed to find her and her five-year-old daughter appropriate accommodation.

Louise Waghorne, 26, and her daughter Sharntell, have been sleeping ‘top-to-tail’ on a sofa in her grandfather’s one-bedroom bungalow in Glenmore Road, Welling.

They were offered a one-bed flat in Gravesend but a communication breakdown led to the council retracting the offer without informing Ms Waghorne.

Ms Waghorne said: “We got a letter on March 3 saying that the landlord wanted the property back by March 6.

“They then wanted to put me and my daughter in a one bedroom flat miles away.

“I drove round the area and it was vile, there were people standing around in corners, dirty needles on the floor.

“I was prepared to accept it for a few days, then my sister phoned the council and said she wasn’t happy with that.

“The officer was discussing my business with her without my consent, he didn’t even phone me and ask my permission.”

When Ms Waghorne tried to pick up the keys for the temporary accommodation she was told that it was not available.

She said: “When I phoned up she told me there is no keys, that Bromley Council have withdrawn the offer.

“I had to phone them, I could have had nowhere to go at all.”

News Shopper:

Ms Waghorne and her daughter, Sharntell, have been sleeping 'top-to-tail'

Ms Waghorne and her daughter have been staying with her Grandfather, but dream of a home of their own.

She told News Shopper: “It is a bit difficult, but he wouldn’t see me out on the streets.

“My daughter doesn’t know whether she’s coming or going, all she says is ‘I just want to go home’.

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The uncertainty is starting to affect all areas of their lives.

Ms Waghorne said: “I’ve been signed off work this week because I had a break down, I wasn’t eating or sleeping.

“I had to go back to the old house to pack and I just broke down.”

A council spokesman said:  “We would like to reassure our residents that we would only talk to a third party with the person’s permission.  

“We would also reassure residents our officers work closely with those who face being made homeless. 

“We have a responsibility to offer temporary accommodation to those households to whom we owe a statutory duty but there are occasions when that accommodation is not accepted.”