Family of six forced to live in tiny filthy room with 'blood-stained bed and mouse poo on carpet'

A HOMELESS family of six living in a cramped, filthy room with a blood-stained bed and mouse poo on the carpet say they’re trapped in a “nightmare”.

Craig Simmonds and Roxanne Stamford, along with their four kids – including a baby – claim they were “dumped” inside a shared home's single room, in Southville, Bristol.

Speaking to Bristol Live, the couple explained that Bristol City and Cornwall Councils are arguing over which authority should help house them.

Their bickering has resulted in them being moved from a caravan in Cornwall to other temporary accommodation including hotels.

They hit rock-bottom after Roxanne suffered serious post-natal depression and mental health issues after the birth of their daughter, Aimee, in Cornwall last year.

DISABLED CHILD

Craig was working as a chef, but he was sacked for taking time off work to care for her and their kids – one of whom has special needs, including cerebral palsy.

The family was then evicted for failing to pay rent.

As Craig is from Bristol, and his mum is retired in the city, they decided to move there.

Things were looking up when he managed to get a job at a local pub, the three older children were enrolled at a primary school, and the family was given a three-bedroom home – albeit temporarily.

But then, in an apparent backflip, Bristol council’s housing bosses said that the family was Cornwall council’s responsibility.

As Craig and his family hadn’t lived in Bristol for more than six months, his “local links” weren’t strong enough to meet strict rules.

SHELTER HELPS

Told they would have to return to Cornwall, they were initially put in a single room in a shared house in Newquay, before being moved around several other temporary homes, Bristol Live adds.

But, the council then told Roxanne “we had made ourselves intentionally homeless because we left [the rental accommodation] the day before the bailiffs came.

“There was nothing more they could do, and we would have to find our own private rented accommodation and pay for it with our housing benefit.”

But they had another hurdle as there was “absolutely nowhere in Cornwall that will take a family of six on benefits in private rented accommodation.”

So the family returned to Bristol – where the council again turned them away, leaving them to plead for help at homeless charity Shelter.

The organisation’s legal experts threatened the authority with an emergency court appeal, as a family of six couldn’t be left on the street.

Roxanne, who is pregnant with her fifth child, said the family was then allocated a "filthy" single room.

A support worker at Parson Street School – which the family praises for being "amazing" – described the room, in a shared home, as “totally unsuitable for anyone to live in.

“[There is] mould and damp all over the walls… bloodstains on the bedding, rat or mice droppings in the corner and no lock on the door.”

Bristol Live, which said the council has been contacted for comment on the family’s plight, pointed out that the city is struggling with 12,000 people on its housing waiting list, and 500 families living in temporary accommodation.

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