Family living in a car

[BlueBug444]

I hope I've got the wrong end of the stick completely - but I think I need to report this to social services and I don't know where to begin. Do I just ring the council and they will put me through to social services?

I walk my Dog through a park most mornings and afternoons/evenings. On the carpark there's a car that's been there for several weeks. At first I thought it had been abandoned then I saw a dog in it one morning. Having kept an eye on it for the last few weeks it seems there's a couple with a young girl (maybe 10 or 11 years old) living in it + at least two dogs and some birds in a cage. I've seen the girl wandering round the park during the day several times now. Usually on her own - then she goes back to the car. It never seems to leave the carpark or be driven anywhere. I heard the man shouting at the woman the other day that "this was is it now and at least we're not on the streets". I feel awful for them that they have seemingly been driven to such desperate measures

Exactly and why can't one member of the family go to emergency housing with the child and one stay with the bloody birds... By the way it's cruel to keep them in the car too!

Hyperbolic much? No one is expecting the ritz but.its better than a cold damp car.

And druggies are chucked out routinely.

My county has an outreach person, I’m sure others do, they would approach and find out what the situation is then go from there. It is likely to be very complex so don’t try yourself

yeah right, somebody will have a walk around and see if they can see the car walk back to the office so that they couldn’t see the car and that will be that

The animals would just be put down end of story so she’s choosing that life for her and her pet over the pets being killed

And what about the child who is also apparently living in a car? I mean, come on!

Our local authority doesn’t put them down, but They are all different

Most people know that the local authority will emergency house people with young children. I am willing to guess that the pets are the problem and the family dont want to leave them and have no one to look after them. The adults have taken the decision to live in a car and thats their right but the environment is not good for a young child who should be in school. I would phone the police and leave it at that. They will assess the situation and contact the necessary authorities.

Yes, I know, I spent over 25 years as a homeless officer for a local authority. But it's not acceptable for a child to be left to sleep in a car. Engaging with the local authority is the only way to resolve this. If the parents had money for a deposit to rent privately they would have done so, consequently there must be some other issue, and without being assessed by a suitably qualified and experienced homeless officer then nothing is going to change. I'm an animal lover, but dogs etc come second to human beings.