A mum-of-two from Sutton has criticised the council for moving her family into a mouldy house that is infested with mice.

Ebony Alison Day, 26, had been living in Carshalton at her grandad's home with her two young sons, before she was moved into bed and breakfast for a month.

Just over a year ago she was moved into the shared house in Brixton, where her and the boys, aged seven and four, all sleep in the one room.

She said: "The whole building is infested with mice.

"Someone from pest control comes and leaves traps inside. There is mould in the ceiling and the roof and bathroom walls are cracked.

"I hate it. The kids hate it. There is no freedom or privacy.

“It is horrible. The kids are always moaning that there is nowhere to sleep."

The mum, who works on a zero-hour contract as a care worker, has also criticised Sutton Council for moving her to a different borough, which is far from her sons' school in Carshalton, where she must return to Carshalton every morning and evening for the school run.

“It is just not suitable,” she said. “I have to leave the house at 5.30 in the morning and we are not back until it is night time because of the buses.

“We are hardly getting enough sleep. The boys keep getting sick and I have had lung problems.

“I don’t know what to do.”

She claims that Sutton Council told her there was nothing they could do because of rent arrears issues.

Although Sutton Council do not reply to individual cases, a spokesman told this newspaper: "We place people in emergency accommodation outside of the borough as we are reliant on the private sector to provide this type of accommodation and there is a very limited supply in Sutton.

"We continually work with landlords to try and find accommodation that is in or closer to the borough and can offer these to suitable households when they become available. 

"Where maintenance issues arise in this type of accommodation, once we are informed of the issue, we will respond accordingly to rectify this with the landlord."