A woman, who lost her business and home due to the effects of the Covid pandemic and cost of living crisis, has spoken out about the "hell" of being housed in one of Cornwall Council's homeless pods. Julie said what was supposed to be two months of emergency accommodation turned into 11 months of living in a "prison camp" surrounded by noise and anti-social behaviour from other residents, many of whom are former rough sleepers with addiction issues.
Julie - who did not want to give her surname for fear of reprisals - said she never expected her life to unravel the way it has over the past two years. She said: "I've always been a really strong person, and everyone has said if they'd been in one of the pods for a week they'd be terrified. Why am I there? I've lost all my fight. My friends have seen how I've changed - I cry all the time."
Some of the incidents she filmed on her phone from her cabin in Camborne can be seen above, including constant loud music, shouting and swearing in the early hours, and even a resident boasting about stabbing people. She believes what happened to her could happen to any of us.
