A mum-of-two envisaged a better future by moving to France with her entire family - but the idyllic life she so strongly hoped for rapidly spiralled out of control.

After being left bruised and financially strained following a divorce from her husband in 2004, 51-year-old Heather Davey uprooted her family, including her elderly parents, from their homes in Kemsing and moved to Parthenay, near the Loire Valley.

The idea came from her then partner and on the understanding he would complete all the renovations on their new £300,000 home, the family reportedly gave him their £350,000 savings.

But after allegedly spending nearly 500,000 euros on quad bikes, machinery and workshop space there was no money left.

Following disagreements over his use of the cash Heather said he disappeared - leaving her family destitute and struggling to seek help from the French benefits system.

She said: “My father saved all his life and was frugal with his money but invested in this adventure. My parents were devastated at our position but said they didn’t blame me. I of course blamed myself.”

Many people like Heather and her family are attracted to France by the prospect of developing run down properties in an attempt to start a better life.

However, many run into cash-flow problems and find the French benefits system less generous to foreigners.

Heather, who previously earned over £30,000 in her job in the UK managed to start earning £3,000 by renting her fields to local farmers.

She spent what little money she had on house repairs, adding: “There was no insulation in the main building and we had real problems with the electric and water.”

Despite her best efforts to improve their standard of living, Heather’s mother died in 2010 in a room with no running water, a moment that worsened an already devastating situation.

She added: “My mother died in a wrecked room, with no water, heating or insulation. She had left her five bedroom, centrally heated house in the UK with no money worries - it was so sad to see.”

At the end of 2009 Heather had nothing in the bank and was left standing in front of a French social worker begging for help, she said: “I asked how I could feed my children and they said because I hadn’t paid into the system, I wasn’t entitled to benefits.”

Despite her devastating ordeal, Heather has began to adjust to life abroad and works day and night to provide for her family.

She still made a small income from renting out land and her son, Lawrence, 23, and daughter Holly, 21, are also working.

Heather added: “We have been through so much together that we don’t want to go back to the UK.

“We’ve managed with nothing and are not materialistic anymore, we are determined not to let this ruin our lives out here.

“We have learnt a lot about the French system, sometimes you have to jump through hoops to get somewhere. It’s far more difficult than the UK, but I’m optimistic."

Heather is now in the process of writing a book about her experiences.