A 20-year-old paraplegic woman was left fearing she had nowhere to go after her Bromley Travelodge closed without warning due to coronavirus.

Sharon Chambers' 20-year-old daughter was moved into the hotel in March, after she lost the use of both legs, as the family home was unsuitable for a wheelchair.

Travelodge said that, acting in line with government coronavirus guidance issued on Monday, it had begun advising councils of its plans to close a number of branches, adding that it told local authorities to move any temporary residents to one of the 140 of its hotels that remain open.

Ms Chambers, 58, said her daughter was given less than an hour's notice to leave, and that Lewisham Council was initially not made aware of Travelodge's plans, which the council confirmed.

Later, the hotel informed Ms Chambers' daughter that she would be allowed to stay the night, and on Wednesday morning she was moved to a nearby branch.

"The whole situation, the way it was handled, is just absolutely disgusting," Ms Chambers told PA.

"The only reason it got resolved was that we stood our ground. For people who didn't have someone to give them the backing, they ended up in far different circumstances."

The hotel chain has been criticised after for closing a number of hotels being used to house homeless and vulnerable people.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Housing tweeted: "All hotels, hostels, and B&Bs providing rooms to support people who are homeless through arrangements with local authorities and other public bodies should remain open and are not affected by the guidance issued yesterday."

One anonymous housing officer said they were left "scrambling" to find accommodation after being given two hours' warning that one Travelodge was to close.

"The local authority I work for had several families and single vulnerable people in Travelodge as we use it for placing people in temporary accommodation," they told the PA news agency.

"More and more people are becoming vulnerable due to cuts in services such as mental health, but also because of possible coronavirus isolation and underlying health issues.

"When Travelodge gave all these people notice, it meant that they lost the accommodation immediately, but we have a legal obligation to provide accommodation so were scrambling to find something else for them.

"This puts undue stress on officers and the families to find accommodation when everything is locked down and everyone is competing for the same few spaces."

Travelodge said in a statement: "Travelodge has been obliged to commence the temporary closure of its hotels in line with the instructions from the Government on 24 March 2020.

"We do expect to remain open in selected critical locations across the country to support accommodation for emergency workers and other groups.

"We are reviewing daily which hotels are best positioned to support the needs that arise with the government while ensuring we comply with the new restrictions in place to protect the public."