"I can't live like this anymore": Mum-of-seven's despair as family forced to live in cramped ONE-BED council flat

In mum-of-seven Cheryl Shaw's flat, there is no space for a bearable existence.

Each morning, she wakes and clears her living room floor of the makeshift bed that her and three of her children are forced to sleep on so they can use the little space there is to play. Behind the sofa is used as storage space for clothing with nowhere else to go.

All eight are living virtually on top of each other in a cramped one-bed flat in Oldham. Mould and damp covers whole corners of the bathroom and patches of the walls, but Cheryl claims despite numerous complaints, she has never had anybody come to see the flat. Now she says she is at breaking point, fearing for the safety of her children and pleading with Oldham Council for more space.

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"I can't live like this much longer," she told the Manchester Evening News. "I'm in tears every day. The children hate the living situation. But I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall."

The property was originally assigned to Cheryl in June 2020 when she was pregnant with Laila, now aged two, and intended just for them. But due to circumstances beyond her control, last year Cheryl had to take in her other six children.

Now Lacey, 10, Corey, 14, Oakley, 6, Colton, 9, Skylar, 8, Laila, 2, Leah, 15, and Cheryl, 38, all share two rooms, with Laila, Oakley, and Colton sleeping on the living room floor with Cheryl.

"I try to make it comfy," she said. "I put thick blankets and pillows down. But they need proper beds."

Since December, this is how they have lived. Cheryl claims both her and her social worker have begged Oldham Council and First Choice Homes (FCHO), who manage the property, for