Homeless family left to sleep on Harrow Council building floor after staff ‘locked the door and went home’

Partners Tiffany Powell, 26, and Steven Bartlett, 29, were stranded for four hours after they say staff left them inside and locked the doors. The couple documented their ordeal inside Harrow Council’s Civic Centre, Greater London, with their children Elliot, five, and Vanessa, two, and posted it online.

The family say they were evicted from their rented home on January 25, after complaining about "mould, dampness, leaks, water in electrics and multiple fire hazards."

Tiffany said: "My daughter and I arrived at the Civic Centre at 1pm after bailiffs had taken the keys to our home.

"My partner then collected my son from school and they also joined us at the Civic Centre.

"We were there asking for help with our current situation, but, when it reached 5pm the staff we were relying on for help just walked out, locked the door and went home leaving us trapped for four hours all on our own."

Video footage shows the reception area of the building empty, with the doors locked, and the family stranded with no food while Elliot napped under a desk and Vanessa in the pram.

"It resulted in our children sleeping under the desk,” Tiffany said. “My son sat on the floor as there was nowhere else for him to sit and he was tired from a long day at school."

"Our daughter fell asleep in her buggy. There was no place for a bed, so this was the best option available at the time as we did not want both of our children sleeping on the floor.

"We did not want our son on the floor but had nothing, not even a seat to offer him due to a lack of care about our situation from Harrow Council staff.

"This floor is walked upon by many people during the day walking from who knows where - and who knows what kinds of germs on the soles of their shoes."

The family were eventually given emergency accommodation at around 9pm. Once housing officers were able to facilitate the emergency accommodation at a Travelodge with a bed and breakfast, a security guard arrived to let them out.

Tiffany and Steven were renting from a private landlord who, they say, didn’t maintain the property adequately, citing "mould, dampness, leaks, water in electrics and multiple fire hazards."

They council explained the family were not able to leave the centre as the automation on the security was off outside of office hours.

A spokesperson said: "We can confirm the family were not locked inside the Civic Centre.

"While the video appears to show this, the family were freely able to leave and were being supported by our security team while housing officers were helping find them suitable emergency accommodation.

"Officers are continuing to support the family during this stressful time. Later this month we will be closing the Civic Centre and opening a new customer centre at 6 Gayton Road for people at risk of homelessness or with concerns about vulnerable residents. This will help us improve customer experience.”