Anger over mother of 11's 'mansion'

Campaigners have criticised a council decision to provide a mother of 11 with a purpose-built six-bedroom "mansion".

Unemployed Heather Frost, 36, currently lives in two houses knocked together in Churchdown, near Gloucester, but says she needs a more suitable home .

Ms Frost has lived in the property - provided by Tewkesbury Borough Council - for five years with her nine daughters and two sons.

To solve her housing problem, the council sold a plot of land in Tewkesbury to Severn Vale Housing Association.

It will build 13 affordable houses on the land, one of which will have six bedrooms and be allocated to Ms Frost. Her current home will be re-allocated to two families.

Robert Oxley, from the TaxPayers' Alliance, criticised the decision.

"It's scandalous that so much time and taxpayers' money is being spent on one custom-built mansion," he said.

"Many people can't afford to buy their own home, but have to opt for what their budget allows. Benefits are there to help those who need support, not subsidise a lifestyle that most people paying for them could not afford themselves."

The grandmother-of-one described her current home, which has just one door knocked through between the two houses, as a "nightmare".

"It was meant to be for four months but we've been here for five years now," she told the Gloucester Citizen.