Pregnant woman is left 'homeless'

Twenty-three-year-old Joanne Paterson used to live at the Droitwich Single Homeless Project, a hostel in Ombersley Road, until it was closed down.

She was then re-housed by Wychavon District Council in Kidderminster and then Evesham. However, that was when things started to go wrong, according to Joanne, who claims she was not getting her payments from income support and was too far away from friends and family back in Droitwich Spa.

Because of this she could not afford to stay in the house that was provided and did not have enough money to eat properly.

Joanne said she started to visit Droitwich for meals with her sister-in-law Tracy Wooley. Despite contacting the council to let them know of the problem and her difficulties Joanne was evicted from the house even though she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

She claims the reason for her eviction was because Wychavon's housing department did not believe she was staying at the property and because she had difficulties meeting the payments to stay at the home.

Joanne is now staying with friends and relatives and is sleeping on sofas with only seven weeks left before she is due to give birth.

Her sister-in-law Tracy said: "I think this is disgraceful. We have spoken with Wychavon District Council and we let them know the situation. We thought they could help, but instead they decided to evict Joanne.

"She has been kicked out on the streets despite being pregnant. That is not right. We thought they might be able to help us or offer us a solution to the problem."

Joanne now fears that she will have her baby taken away from her after it is born if she cannot find somewhere to stay.

A spokesman for Wychavon District Council said: "We provided suitable accommodation for Miss Paterson, but it was not being occupied.

"We advised her that we needed the property due to the demand for housing. She had the right to appeal, which she hasn't exercised."