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Families thrown out of temporary accommodation with all their belongings and no idea of their destination have criticised West Berkshire Council’s care and diligence.
Around 32 families were sat in the reception of the Premier Inn on Park Way on Monday, April 17.
Some couples, single mothers, parents with newborns and even a disabled man were left waiting to hear from the council to find out where they will be staying for the next week.
A 23-year-old single mother of one has been staying at the hotel for three weeks.
This isn’t the first place she has stayed; she has been at other hotels as she is fleeing an abusive partner.
She was given an hour to pack her room up and sit downstairs to find out that she was moving to another hotel near London.
She said her four-year-old son was staying with a friend so that he does not have to witness what’s going on.
While sat in the hotel foyer surrounded by her belongings, she told Newbury Today: “I didn’t want him to see us keep getting shipped from place to place.
“He will start school in September so if I am not housed by then it is a concern.
“It is not fair on him really.”
She added: “I had an hour to pack my room up and now I have got to sit here, I don’t think they want council residents staying here anymore.
“I can’t be there for the foreseeable because I can’t get anywhere from there and it will leave me stranded.”
Another person, a healthcare assistant working in West Berkshire, said he was living in an unsafe environment in Aldermaston before the council moved him, his wife and two children to the Premier Inn.
The father of two boys, aged one and two, said: “We have been here [Premier Inn] since Wednesday.
“The council promised us that on Monday they might find somewhere else for us, accommodation in a good environment for the kids,” he said.
“I don’t know what our next move is, they wanted to move me onto Leeds but I work in Reading I cannot go to Leeds.”
A 63-year-old Polish woman has been in the hotel for two-weeks and was also sat in the foyer waiting to find out where she would be temporarily put next.
Her son, who lives in West Berkshire and cannot afford to take her in, said he doesn’t know where she will be living next.
He told Newbury Today: “The council cannot find her a home. She thought she had a house but was then told the house had been given to someone else.
“She is now just waiting.”
Upon reaching their new accommodation spaces, many were told, at receptions, that payment was not made by the council on their behalf.
The hotels, not receiving payment, could therefore not take the families in, causing distress for those with young children.
The Premier Inn said this was simply a case of bookings, made by the council, coming to an end.
A spokesperson said: “The council made a number of reservations at our Newbury hotel which came to an end yesterday.
“No-one was evicted, the bookings were simply complete and the guests remained for their planned duration, with no extension on the rooms made by the council.
“They would have been unable to extend if they decided to do so yesterday at any rate as the hotel is fully booked.”
West Berkshire said the issue was promptly resolved.
A spokesperson said: “We are aware and have resolved the issue for the temporary accommodation at a hotel in Newbury.
“The issue was with the online re-booking system which meant families arrived at the hotels but there was a technical inaccuracy with confirming the payment.
“As a result, no one was turned away as staff worked quickly and efficiently until late in the afternoon to resolve these issues and confirmed payments using alternative measures.
“We are meeting with the hotel management to review what has happened and ensure that identified improvements are put in place.”
“They would have been unable to extend if they decided to do so yesterday at any rate as the hotel is fully booked.”