A young mother whose house was gutted by fire has slammed Bradford council for not offering her a new home.

Rachel Armstrong, 23, says the council is refusing to re-house her after her home in Coronation Way, Braithwaite, was wrecked by an arson attack on New Year's Day.

She says council officials have told her to either clean up the house or pay council workmen to clean it up for her.

Since the fire at her council home Rachel and four-year-old son Ayrton have been staying with her brother Neil.

Rachel says: "There is no way I can move back into the house because it is in a right mess. There are cracked windows and a lot of the rooms are still smoke-damaged.

"We want to stay in the area but I'm frightened to move back into the house in case it happens again.

"I have been down to Keighley Town Hall to try and sort it out but the person who is dealing with my case has never been there.

"There just isn't enough room in my brother's one-bedroom flat and for the last three months I have been sleeping on the sofa with Ayrton."

A spokesperson for the council's Guard House Housing Office says: "Since the fire we have tried several times to contact Miss Armstrong so we can gain access to her house to check for damage and carry out necessary work.

"Unfortunately she has not co-operated with us and so we have been unable to start any work.

"Miss Armstrong applied to be re-housed (under the Housing Act 1996, part 7) and after discussing her concerns about the safety of her children we decided the best option would be for her to move away from the area. However, she has insisted she only wants to move a few doors away.

"We felt unable to help with this request as she could equally have returned to her own house once repairs were made. In the meantime we have referred her case concerning the welfare of her children to social services."

The arson attack took place on 4.30am on New Year's Day, when a large window was smashed and lighted material pushed through, setting fire to curtains in the room.

Keighley police say there have been no developments in the case.

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