A MOTHER-of-two who wants to move to an area of Burnley with hundreds of empty council homes, was told by housing bosses: "Sorry - you don't qualify!"

Susie Defrond, 25, wants to move from her present home in North Wales to be near her sisters on the town's problem-plagued West End estates.

But when she applied for a house in Burnley - this week branded by the Government as the town with the highest percentage of empty council properties in the country - she was told there was nothing for her.

Housing officials told Mrs Defrond, who has an eight-week-old baby, she had only a third of the points needed under the council's strict allocation system to qualify - and it could be months before she had any chance of moving to Burnley.

She said they told her there were eleven people ahead of her on the waiting list for the estates - even though they are riddled with empty properties, with Department of the Environment statistics showing nearly 300 ready-to-let homes in Burnley with no takers - most of them at West End which are Stoops, Hargher Clough and Barclay Hills.

Mrs Defrond, who has an eight-year-old son needing special care, asked for a house near her sister Mrs Wendy Withington in Rome Avenue, where she says there are 14 unlet properties in the immediate area - but still the answer was no. "I told them I would accept anything, anywhere but the housing office said there was nothing they could do. "It seems so wrong."

Said Wendy: "Susie needs the support of her family.

"She has no arrears and no criminal record and would make a good tenant for Burnley council.

"The whole thing is disgusting."

The case was taken up this week by Liberal Democrat councillor for the area Gordon Birtwistle who said he simply couldn't believe his ears when a council housing manager explained that Mrs Defrond could not have a home.

"We are crying out for tenants, we have the highest rate of empty houses anywhere, this lady would bring desperately-needed rent and council tax income to the town, yet the answer was still no - it is appalling," he added.

Today, Burnley housing chairman Coun Rafique Malik said there had been confusion surrounding the issue and he was sure something could be sorted out.

Mr Martin Sample, the council's neighbourhood housing manager, said it was wrong for anyone to say Mrs Defrond could not have a house.

He said in areas where there was a high number of empty properties the council could be flexible on the points procedure.

He would review the matter, he added.

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