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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Asha Patel & Graeme Murray

Mum shocked as burly security men tell her she must leave her home

A mum was shocked after burly security men stormed into her home and told her she must leave - even though she had nowhere to go.

She and her two children were living in emergency accommodation when they received the rude awakening from security men who told them to pack-up and leave.

The family was living in the temporary home as attempts were made to find them more permanent housing.

Leicester City Council said they were given 24 nights' notice to leave the property, run by the Housing Network, which helps find homes for vulnerable people.

But the mum-of-two told LeicestershireLive she was not given any notice and had nowhere to move to, because a suitable home could not be found.

The woman was told she had to leave the accommodation immediately (Leicester Mercury / Chris Gordon)

Two security guards and a Housing Network officer were then dispatched to see if she had left the property. When they saw she was still there, they came inside and the woman says they told her she needed to leave her house immediately.

The mum argued she had no money and nowhere to move into - and the security guards, who worked for a third party company employed by the Housing Network, said she had until Friday to leave.

One of the security men told her: "I think you should do yourself a favour lady, you have till Friday, you have a long enough time to prepare yourself and leave this house because you have crossed all the lines."

Another said: "He's being nice today because if it was [up to] me she would be out."

The mum-of-two said: "I was just shocked, they came in the morning while my children were still in their pyjamas, telling us to get out. I didn't know what to do.

"I was thinking they're going to come back and I will have nowhere to go - we were scared."

The city council has since admitted the security guards were 'completely over the top', they they acted unprofessionally and 'fabricated' the eviction'. It has also apologised unreservedly for their behaviour.

The woman, who is a victim of domestic abuse, began seeking asylum when she moved to the UK with her children ten years ago.

She was granted leave to remain last year and was moved into her current temporary home in Leicester while attempts were made to find her a more permanent home.

Leicester City Council has a legal obligation to offer her a home and has since offered her three.

But the woman says she could not have realistically moved into any of them because she has a long-standing back injury as a result of the abuse she suffered and struggles to use the stairs.

She added one of the properties was damp and would not be suitable for her young children, aged two and eight.

Local charity and advocacy group, British and Muslim says it understands that there is a housing crisis, but they are seeing "more and more cases like this one".

A spokesperson for the charity said: "The people who are suffering the most are the most vulnerable people. We believe these residents are being failed and we are angry.

"What we are seeing is that these people are caught between the council which is in a housing crisis and private landlords who will not help them."

A Leicester City Council spokesperson said: "When an asylum seeker is granted leave to remain in the UK, they have to move out of the accommodation provided to them by the Home office. Councils have no control over this process.

"When this happened to [the woman in this case], we placed her in temporary accommodation owned by the Housing Network while we looked for a suitable property for her family.

"Although we only have a legal duty to make one offer of accommodation, we have made three offers. The third offer of a private property was turned down without a viewing as [she] says she will only consider council housing.

"[The woman] was given 24 nights’ notice that she would need to leave the Housing Network accommodation.

"We apologised for the distress caused when two security personnel accompanied the Housing Network officer to establish if she was still at the property.

"Their standards fell short of what we would expect and we understand the Housing Network will not be using their company again.

"We appreciate that this is a difficult situation and we will continue to support [her] by assisting her to find a home in the private sector."

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