A pregnant mum who fled domestic violence is threatening to hold a hospital protest over being forced to live in a hotel, where she relies on a toaster to cook.
The mother, who wanted to stay anonymous, claims Birmingham City Council put her up in a hotel over an hour bus journey away from her daughter's school.
The Brummie was placed in a Travelodge, in north Birmingham, after her relationship broke down, however she is now fed up with the location and the lack of basic cooking facilities.
She told Birmingham Live : "I have been living in the Travelodge for the last month. I had lived in Birmingham for most of my life then spent time living elsewhere. Due to a relationship breakdown I have come back into the city.
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"Birmingham City Council found me accommodation living in a Travelodge but I am a long way away from where my daughter goes to school in the city.
"This means we are both getting up at 5.30am in the morning so I can get her ready for school and to catch a bus which takes an hour-and-a-half.
"We get back late in the evening. We are both shattered all of the time. It is not good for her schooling and not good for myself being pregnant."
Speaking about the conditions at the hotel, the mum, who is 35 weeks pregnant, said she and her daughter have been living on pop tarts and toast - as they only have a toaster to cook with.
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She added: "I have no facilities to cook a meal and can't afford to go and buy food out.
"It really is such an unhealthy diet at the moment and when I have had scans they have said my baby is a very low weight.
"I don't have a fridge so items I need to keep cool such as milk is kept in my sink in cold water.
"I have to share a bed with my young daughter and she is very restless in her sleep and kicks out which is not ideal when you are pregnant.
"One of the residents who was living a few doors away from me on my floor has been kicked out for taking the drug Black Mamba. This isn't an environment a pregnant mother and her young daughter should be exposed to.
"I am due to give birth next week. If I haven't been given permanent accommodation I will refuse to leave hospital. I can't go back to living in those conditions with a newborn baby. It would just be impossible."
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Julie Griffin, acting housing director at Birmingham City Council, said temporary accommodation is for people who need emergency housing.
She added: "It is a safety net that’s in place to protect the most vulnerable homeless households.
"Birmingham currently has 2,800 households in temporary accommodation, 400 of which have needed to be supported with bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation.
"Through our prevention work, this has significantly fallen from nearly 700 households who were in B&Bs last year.
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"However, homelessness is an ever-growing crisis both in our city and nationwide. We receive 600 new homeless applications every month and out of the 62,000 properties the council owns, only a few hundred each year become available.
“Where issues are known with accommodation, we will do all we can to support the family concerned however we must acknowledge that placing people into bed and breakfast accommodation is a last resort and we are looking to eliminate this as soon as possible.
"It is not suitable accommodation for the long-term and is exactly why we have invested in building our own temporary accommodation stock, like Barry Jackson Tower and Magnolia House, which are now both housing families and offering tailored support.”
