Ukraine refugees: Essex woman told caravan is 'unsuitable'

A woman who has housed a family of Ukrainian refugees in a static caravan has been told it is "unsuitable".

Alison Bird put the family of four up in her caravan in Dovercourt, Essex, despite the local authorities rejecting her application.

She said she had been too far along the process to tell the family she could not host them.

The local authorities said they would be making contact with her and would look at rematching the family.

Ms Bird had argued the heated, fully furnished caravan, on a caravan site, was "perfectly suitable".

But her application was rejected by Essex County Council and the other local organisations involved in the Homes for Ukraine scheme due to the seasonal nature of caravans and restrictions on year-round occupancy.

Ms Bird said she went ahead "in spite of the barriers put in the way by the local authorities" and the family arrived on 29 April.

"We were already six weeks down the line and couldn't turn around to the family and say 'you've got to start the process again and we can't have you'," she said.

She said she was told they would not receive any funding from the Homes for Ukraine scheme and they have tried to fundraise in other ways.

A spokesperson for the Essex authorities thanked the family for "kindly stepping up and offering their support", but added that the "static caravan site in question is not open all year round, the accommodation has been deemed unsuitable".

They said payments under the Homes for Ukraine scheme were "not issued if any of the housing or safeguarding checks are failed".

"We will be speaking to the Bird family again regarding the current situation and the rematching process," they added.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk