EXCLUSIVE

by Sophie Jackson

When mum Kayleigh Loveridge reaches for the frozen peas or a pint of milk after 8pm, she’s technically breaking the law.

The 24-year-old couldn’t shoe-horn the fridge-freezer into her tiny one-bed flat - so is forced to store it on the balcony instead.

But an electronic tag attached for benefit fraud is activated every time she steps onto the sixth-floor balcony to satisfy the urge for a cuppa or snack between 8pm and 6am.

So to avoid breaking the terms of her curfew, the mum-of-one, from The Hive, Northfleet, leans out of the bedroom window instead.

“If I want to get anything after hours I have to lean out of the bedroom window and reach into the fridge,” said Ms Loveridge.

She lives in the cramped property with husband Sabri and three-year-old son Armando.

In March she was successfully prosecuted for illegally claiming almost £6,000 in benefits which she has been ordered to repay at £15 per week.

Gravesham Borough Council has now ordered the fridge-freezer be removed - or the family could face eviction for breaching their tenancy agreement.

The couple argue there is no space for it inside the home where they have lived for seven years.

The couple complained to GBC that the flat was too small and a hazard for inquisitive toddler Armando, who they say nearly fell from one of the windows because of a faulty catch.

But housing officer Rob Ward stated in a letter: “I must underline that control of your son is a parental duty, not able to be controlled by the council or any of its employees.”

Ms Loveridge feels they are being treated unfairly because she tried to cheat the system which she insists was an oversight.

She said: “I pleaded guilty because I was scared of what might happen.”

The couple are now trying for another baby. “Armando says he wants a brother. He thinks they come from Asda,” she added.

A Gravesham council statement said: “While we sympathise that there may not be adequate room in the flat for this style fridge-freezer it is a situation we simply cannot allow to continue.”

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