A mother-of-five claims Christmas will be a “living nightmare” unless her family can find a bigger home.

Louise Razzell, 30, lives with her partner Craig Robins; twins Connie and Lacey, ten; son Mason, six; and five month old twins Ruby and Scarlett in a two-bedroom house in Sheepcot Lane, Garston.

She said she is “frustrated” at being “left in limbo” as the housing authority has been unable to offer her more suitable accommodation, despite bidding for up to 30 larger properties across Watford.

Louise said: “I've got three single beds in the kids' bedroom. They've got no room to swing a cat. There's no storage room.

“We've got two [babies'] baskets in our bedroom and now the twins need to go into cots. It's just horrendous. We're living on top of each other. It's just so hard.

“It's just become unliveable. It's a living nightmare at the moment and I'm dreading Christmas. It's just choc-a-bloc.”

Watford Borough Council's housing team manage the waiting list for social housing in the town.

A representative said that although Ms Razzell was considered to be of high need, “there are other people of greater need, who are more overcrowded or people of the same level who have been so for longer”.

There are currently 4,000 people on the housing register waiting list, while three and four-bedroom houses are “really rare”, they added.