A MOTHER is frightened to return home with her family following a suspected arson attack.

Beverley Jackson was hoping for a fresh start for her family but Basildon Council told her no other properties are suitable.

Ms Jackson was living in Foxglove Court, Laindon, until somebody set her shed on fire and the flames and smoke spread to the home.

Thankfully Beverley and her children were not in the property at the time of the fire but were horrified when they got a call to say their house was on fire.

The blaze engulfed the garden and caught the back of the house leaving it badly smoke damaged, and a number of Beverley’s and her children’s belonging were destroyed.

Beverley said: “I got a call to say the house was on fire and I thought someone was playing a joke on me - I didn’t believe it.

“When I rushed over there and saw the flames I was horrified.

“I was already scared about living at the place because of the trouble my ex had brought to the house which is why I was staying at my mum’s.”

Beverley, who also has a heart condition, went into a refuge with her children while she waited to be housed by Basildon Council.

She applied for an emergency social management move but was told by the council there was not enough evidence to support a move and advised her to try to obtain a transfer.

They have since told her there is nowhere for her to go and that she must move back into the property which she claims is still badly smoke damaged.

Beverley said: “My children don’t want to go back there, they don’t feel safe and neither do I.

“Social services threatened to take my kids if I didn't go back there.

“We have to move back in tomorrow and the council said they were going to clean and paint the place yesterday but that doesn’t change the fact it’s been left smoke damaged for all this time.

“We can’t even breath properly in there, it is a right state.

“I just don’t feel safe here at all.

“The council has completely ignored me from the start.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone at the council cares. I want a life.”

A spokesman for Basildon council said: “Ms Jackson and her children were placed in temporary accommodation in August 2017 while repairs were carried out to her property following a fire.

“We were informed by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service that an investigation into the cause was inconclusive.

“The relevant repairs were completed in October 2017, but Ms Jackson failed to return to the property.

“Basildon Council has since installed additional security and worked closely with Ms Jackson to improve the overall condition of the property. Further assistance has been provided by Essex Social Services.”