A HOUSING crisis in Christchurch has left no room in the town for homeless families when their temporary stay in holiday caravans at Highcliffe ends later this month.

Part-time clerk and mother of two Sarah Gallagher is among eight families who face being sent to hostels in Southampton or Dorchester when the camp shuts for the winter.

Sarah, 40, and her children aged nine and six, have been billeted by Twynham Housing Association in a two-berth holiday home since June, when they were made homeless following the break-up of her marriage and repossession of the family home in Jumpers.

With no permanent accommodation available through Twynham Housing Association, which has some 2,500 people on its waiting list for the three-bedroom home the family needs, Sarah has been battling to rent a property in the private sector.

But despite council promises of help, Sarah's hopes of finding a home have been repeatedly dashed by high rents and landlords who do not want tenants on benefits or with children.

Now Sarah, who is being treated for depression, has been told she will be placed in temporary accommodation as far afield as Southampton or Dorchester and her children ferried to school in Christchurch by taxi every day if she has not found a home by October 28 when the park closes for the season.

She said: "I am not saying Twynham or the council are not trying to do their best, I am saying the system is letting us down.

"Others at the park also feel very let down by the system. I and all the others there are human beings with feelings and it would be nice to be treated that way."

Twynham managing director Marion Franks said there was a chronic shortage of affordable housing in Christchurch and there were plans to build more homes in the future.

"In the meantime we are working closely with Christchurch council to look at getting help from the private rented sector and other options," she said.

First published: October 3