Britain's oldest mum of quadruplets is currently living with them in two rooms at a Travelodge with the children's father sleeping at his mum's house.
Tracey Britten was 50 when she gave birth to the big brood and nearly five years on she and her kids are forced to live at the budget hotel after being made homeless.
As the Mirror reports, the 55-year-old has no cooking facilities and uses a plug-in slow cooker and milk is kept tepid in a few inches of bath water. The 55-year-old also travels nearly 200 miles each day to take and collect her three daughters and son to and from nursery.
READ MORE: Edinburgh pensioner threatened with sheriff officers over 'phantom' council tax debt
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Tracey says the family have been there for two months after vacating their four-bedroom rented house in Enfield, North London, in February.
Tracey fears she could be forced to live in the Travelodge for ten years. The family sleep in one room and the other is used as a makeshift 'play room' for the kids with toys and Lego.
Tracey is also forking out £40 every time she has to use the laundrette. "I feel untidy, grotty, and there are days I don't want to get out of bed, but I have to stay strong, to keep going for them," Tracey said.
![](https://i2-prod.edinburghlive.co.uk/incoming/article26747014.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/2_fab-four-britai-429093.jpg)
The then 50-year-old broke the record for being the oldest mum to give birth to quadruplets in October 2018 after IVF treatment in Cyprus, costing £7,000.
The children spent months in special care after arriving nine weeks premature as the story attracted global attention with Tracey appearing on ITV's This Morning.
"I feel terrible that they are having to live like this, though none of it is their fault, and I'll do whatever I can to find us another lovely, stable home," Tracey said.
Their living space is always loud - with no outdoor access, the kids have lots of energy to burn off, while George also has autism and is only content when listening to nursery rhymes.
Tracey and Stephen are still together, but he sleeps at his mum's house which is not big enough for the entire family.
"He couldn't cope with being here all the time," said Tracey. "He doesn't like enclosed spaces and the aircon would set off his asthma."
Rent on their previous home was over £2000 a month - all but £200 was covered by housing benefit payments. According to Tracey, the family can't find anywhere with at least three bedrooms for under £3,000 a month.
The mum approached her local authority in the hope of being offered a council house.
Tracey said she was told she would need to be actually homeless and not just being evicted before they could be added to the waiting list - and even then it could take a decade.
The council did, however, give them the emergency hotel accommodation and is paying around £2,500 a week to cover it.
Tracey said: "I've said we'll take a two-bedroom place, at least then we'd have a kitchen, but I'm told they're not legally allowed to house us anywhere with fewer than three -- and yet they can keep us here!"
The night before they moved into the hotel, Tracey thought she was having a heart attack and called an ambulance - though paramedics said it was an extreme anxiety attack.
And almost every day she receives a call from the nursery saying one of the kids is unwell - and fears it's the heat of the rooms at night or the air con.
Tracey - who survives on around three hours sleep a night - worries about the prospect of getting her children all into the same primary school come September.
"If I didn't have four children, I wouldn't be in this situation, but I've never once thought why did I have them?" she said.
READ NEXT:
Eerie images show inside abandoned UK theme park which has turned into 'ghost town'
West Lothian pair arrested following police drug and cash raid on property
Edinburgh firefighters rush to 'wildfire' at Pentlands as smoke rises from hills
Edinburgh locals spot scurrying rats in feeding frenzy on bird food at park
Edinburgh thieves raid family home on residential street in broad daylight