A pregnant teenager says she is being forced to live in her CAR – claiming council workers have been unable to find her a home.
Mum-to-be Georgia Long, 19, is five months pregnant, and is bedding down in the back seat of her cramped Ford Fiesta each night in car parks.
Georgia parks in fields and lay-bys with her concerned partner, Kyle Wallbridge.
The pair are waiting for a council property to become available, but they say South Gloucestershire Council has ..dragged its feet” for five months.
Georgia said: “It’s a nightmare. I have problems with my hips due to my pregnancy and it is impossible for us to sleep in the car.
”We just aren’t sleeping each night and it is really affecting my health.
“My hips have been affected and I am using crutches at the moment, but as I get further on I will have to start using a wheelchair.
”My doctor and midwife have both written letters saying this is impacting my health, but they haven’t done anything.
“It is ridiculous, I have never claimed benefits in my life, but apparently you have to be a bum to get any help.”
The couple first applied for a council property when she found out she was pregnant in early May.
The expectant mother said: “My mum has seven kids, so there was no room to stay at hers either.
“I called the council and explained the situation and they said that nothing was available.
”They then rang all of our friends and family and tried to make them feel bad for not being able to offer us a place to stay.
”They kept saying that it was their (the friends and family’s) responsibility.
“One woman at the council also said I shouldn’t have a baby if I couldn’t afford it which was horrible.”
The teenagers went to stay with Kyle’s father in Bridgwater for three months, but the pressure of having four adults and three children under the age of five in a two-bedroom house proved too much, and the couple came back to Yate last week.
Since then they have been living in Georgia’s car, driving to a different location each night with all of their belongings trying to get some rest.
The disruption has made it difficult for Georgia to keep her midwife’s appointments and she is concerned that she will not be in a home before the birth of her daughter, who is due in February.
She said: “The problem seems to be with money.
”I work for an insurance firm and because I mistakenly got paid a bit of my maternity cover I had more in my account than usual.
“The council say we need to pay £280 per week for a flat, but we just can’t afford that. According to what we earn we should be paying £20 per week for accommodation.”
In response, South Gloucestershire Council said that it has offered the couple accommodation several times.
A spokesman added: “We have been in contact with the couple for several months and have offered accommodation to them on an interim basis, which they have chosen not to take up.
“We have now secured longer term supported accommodation for them from Monday 3 October.”
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