A GRANDMOTHER forced to sleep rough for over a week, claims the council is doing nothing to help her out of her “traumatic situation”.

Carol Roworth was kicked out of her house in Waltham Abbey after six years, following a disagreement with her landlord last Monday.

The 53-year-old had viral encephalitis, a brain infection, in 2011 and the long-term effects have left her with memory loss and speech problems.

But despite her illness, she continued with her job as an assistant at Sprays Bakery in Loughton and is still going to work after sleeping on the streets.

She said: “It’s been very scary.

“I literally slept on a bench in a big coat with a blanket wrapped around me so I couldn’t be seen. I’m afraid.

“It’s bitterly cold. I can’t get tea without being noticed so I’m just drinking water. double wrapped around me.

“I’m absolutely drained and completely devastated.

“I can’t believe that in this day and age, they treat people like this.

“Luckily I can eat from work, but this whole thing has been disgusting.”

Epping Forest District Council told Ms Roworth she had been made “voluntarily homeless” by refusing to rent privately.

As a result, she was not eligible to go on the waiting list for social housing,

Ms Roworth earns £148 a week and insists the homes on the private market are too expensive for her to afford, even with housing benefit.

She said: “I’ll be constantly in arrears, trying to pay back the loan.

“It’s a vicious cycle. I keep having to reduce my hours at work as I'm not well.

“The council told me that they’d loan me a deposit and my first month’s rent, but how can I possibly pay that back?”

Ms Roworth’s son lives in Spain and is unable to help while her daughter rents a room where guests are not permitted.

She was able to store her possessions in a neighbour’s flat, but says she’s got nowhere else she can go for support.

She says the situation is making her illness worse and she is unable to go out to new places alone as her memory loss exacerbates.

As a result, she has been forced to reduce her hours at work – meaning less money.

She added: “I’m in shock. They said I’d never work again during my illness but I couldn’t live my life like that.

“I’m trying so hard and this is how I’m repaid.

“Everyone I talk to about it is in shock.

“It’s so upsetting and I feel like I’ve got nowhere to turn. I can’t believe the council won’t even help. It is just so wrong.”

Epping District Council has been contacted for a comment, but said it always gives out advice to those in trouble.