Family who fled flat fire sleep on relative’s floor
Face of man police want to trace in link to domestic abuse offences
AFAMILY has been left sleeping on the floor of a relative’s house after they were forced to flee their flat following a fire.
Dannielle Irvine, 24, and her two children, Freddie, 5, who has autism, and Hunter, 18 months, fled their flat above the Waterside restaurant,after a fire broke out at the premises in the early hours of May 20.
Now, the family are staying on the floor at Dannielle’s sister’s home and Dannielle claims it may take up to 12 months for her to be rehoused.
Rochdale Borough Council said Dannielle had been offered ‘temporary emergency housing’ which she declined.
Dannielle, who works as a benefits manager, said: “Myself and my children have lost everything, we’ve got no home and no belongings.
“I could see black smoke from the kitchen underneath. I dragged the kids out of bed and ran out. They were just in their pyjamas and we were standing in the street with no shoes on and nowhere to go.
“All I want is somewhere I can call home for my children and I’m being told it could be going up to 12 months before I get anything. How can you expect people to be homeless, living on people’s floors with children for 12 months?
“What am I supposed to do now? I don’t really know what I’m going to do at the minute.”
Dannielle said she turned down the offer of temporary B&B accommodation as she needs somewhere settled and familiar for her son Freddie, due to his autism.
She said: “I’m not being ungrateful – I don’t want to be moving him around all the time. He is finding this whole experience very traumatic and it’s important to him to have routine and familiar surroundings.
“I don’t want to be picking him up and moving him every couple of weeks.
“Sleeping in just a room is not an ideal situation with him so I’d rather him be around people familiar to him and structured.
“People don’t want temporary accommodation of B&BS or hostels; they want homes and somewhere they can feel safe and settled down.”
Rochdale Council said their homelessness team had been in contact with Dannielle and said they recognise the ‘urgency of the situation’.
They said they had advised her to contact her landlord in the first instance as there is ‘an obligation to honour the rental contract through the provision of alternative accommodation’.
A spokesperson for the council said: “In the event that the landlord or their insurers do not respond, the council has offered temporary emergency housing to ensure that the family has somewhere safe to stay. At this time, Ms Irvine has declined that offer.
“The council’s housing register is under considerable pressure at this time and although Ms Irvine’s family’s needs would be recognised and prioritised accordingly through the allocations system, a waiting time of several months would not be unusual due to the exceptionally high levels of demand and the very slow turnover of social rented accommodation in recent times.
“The council is not a stock-holding authority and therefore we rely on vacancies from social landlords.
The council can, on occasion, support residents who wish to source a private rented home rather than wait for a social rented property to become available.
“Once Ms Irvine’s application for permanent accommodation has been registered, she will be able to bid on vacant properties advertised through the council’s system.”
A blaze broke out at The Waterside on Inghams Lane in Littleborough just before 1.30am on May 20, the fire service said.
Four fire engines were sent to the scene and pictures showed damage to the front of the building, with charring on the bricks.
An investigation to determine the cause of the fire is now being carried out.
POLICE have released the image of a wanted man they want to speak to in relation to alleged ‘domestic abuse offences’.
Andrew Jackson is wanted following reported incidents in Rochdale.
He is wanted in connection with alleged domestic abuse offences – including stalking and assaults – which happened in March.
He is thought to also have links to the Oldham area.
Anyone with any information is being urged to contact police.
His face was shared to Greater Manchester Police’s social media pages on
Wednesday evening, June 1.
The post read: “Have you seen wanted Andrew Jackson, from Oldham? He’s wanted in connection with a number of domestic abuse offences including stalking and assaults that took place in Rochdale in March. He’s believed to have links to the Oldham area.”
Anyone with information or anyone who may have seen him is asked to report it online or via Livechat. Alternatively, call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.