Leicester City Council has refused to accept a recommendation from an ombudsman to pay a woman £1,300 for placing her and her children in a B&B for longer than six weeks, saying the housing crisis has made use of such temporary accommodation “unavoidable.”

The local authority placed a woman and her children fleeing domestic abuse in a B&B for 19 weeks. The Housing Act states councils must provide alternative housing for households with children or pregnant women after six weeks in unsuitable temporary accommodation.