'I'd rather get beaten up than live in filthy and flea-ridden temporary housing provided by Milton Keynes Council', says desperate domestic abuse victim

A young mum moved out of her home by police due to domestic abuse has admitted she has contemplated returning to her violent ex.

The reason is the “awful” standard of housing offered to her and her children by the council’s homelessness department.

"I’m trying to make a home for my children but it’s impossible. The places are disgusting. I keep telling my kids we’ll get through this, but I don’t know whether we can,” she said.

"It’s so bad that I’m tempted to go back to my ex. Being beaten up was easier than having to live like this.”

The desperate mum added: "I am living in a house that was filthy when we moved in. It is riddled with fleas that won’t go away, despite professional treatments. It’s so bad that when I make a cup of tea, fleas jump into it,” she said.

"The bath is rusty broken and my children have cut themselves on it. The kitchen floor is so jagged that it cuts their feet.”

This is the third temporary home the family has been moved to since they were told by police to quit their city estate home last year because it was too dangerous for them to stay there.

"Each place has been awful,” said the mum, who cannot be identified for her own safety. “My children have been to three different schools because of the moves … they are broken.”

The first place was a hotel more than an hour’s drive away.

"I don’t drive. I had no way of getting my children to school. It was horrible,” said the mum.

She was then moved to Furzton, a privately-owned housed rented by the council. “The first thing that hit me was the smell,” she said.

"There was faeces on the carpets, patches of urine and bogies on the walls… We had no running water at first and then we had a leak and water was cascading through the ceiling onto my cooker.”

In December the council moved the family to a “better” house, again privately rented but this time on Tinkers Bridge. Here, the flea problem has evaded even professional pest controllers.

"My children are bitten all over. Nothng will get rid of the fleas. I keep trying to complain to the council but it’s impossible to get hold of people... It seems to be either put up with it or shut up.”

To make matters worse, the mum, who has refused two other properties because they were “even worse”, has been told it could be five years before she is offered a permanent house.

"I was forced to leave behind my lovely home through no fault of my own and I know it would be dangerous for me to return,” she said.

"But every day I wonder if I should just go back there and put up with the abuse so my children have a decent place to live and can settle at school. It’s horrible decision to make.”

A spokesman for MK City Council told the Citizen today: “We take matters like this very seriously and are looking into this woman’s concerns. We’ll be keeping her updated as we work to find her a long term property.”