Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
World
Ruby Gregory & James Rodger & Hannah Mackenzie Wood

Mum's despair as kids forced to eat on floor and bathe in buckets in tiny, mould-ridden flat

A distraught mum says her tiny flat is so mould-ridden that that her young children are forced to eat on the floor.

Latasha Smith claims she is left in tears everyday over her family's appalling housing conditions - but that the council simply turn a blind eye to their plight.

The struggling parent says they have no space to do anything in the flat in Croydon, South London, and that she has to store food in the oven due to how cramped it is, Birmingham Live reports.

Latasha, who is heavily pregnant and due to give birth in a few weeks, said: “I sit down daily and breakdown, I try to be strong again and say, ‘right let’s get out’, but it’s not easy. There’s no space to do anything.

"It’s not fair for my youngest, she can’t even explore in her own environment, there’s no space for her to explore.

"Croydon Council put me here and that was it. They put me here and forgot all about me.”

She and her teen daughter have been using her neighbour's shower - while her child, aged just two, bathes in a bucket.

The mum added: “I don’t know where they expect me to put my baby, they are aware - I told them when I was pregnant, but they blanked me. No one replied to me, no one answered me."

A Croydon Council spokesperson said: “Our team has found a new home for this family [on Friday, May 27] and the family will now be relocated as soon as possible.

"We sincerely apologise that they have not felt supported in their home and recognise that, in light of national housing demand, families are sometimes left in temporary situations for far too long. It is unacceptable that we have left them feeling ignored."

They added: "The Council is committed to making sure all our residents and families are treated with respect and empathy when dealing our services.”

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.