POLICE raids, break-ins, sewage in the shower and a list of broken appliances are just some of the issues an asylum-seeker has had to face since moving in to a guesthouse in Basingstoke. 

Erica Douglas, who is originally from Grenada in the Caribbean, was placed at the Wessex Guest House with her son in March 2020, by Hampshire County Council.

Since then, Erica and her three-year-old son have faced significant issues with the accommodation. 

Erica said she has decided to speak up out of desperation – after facing two years of problems – to highlight the unsafe conditions people fleeing their countries face when they arrive in the UK. 

SEE ALSO: Councillors say no to plans that would see more than 17,000 houses built in Basingstoke and Deane

You can read the full story in this week’s edition of the Gazette. Also in this week's paper:

  • A Campaign group has said it will continue to fundraise to support a parish council’s fight to stop ‘gigantic warehouses’ being built on green space
  • A foodbank in Basingstoke supporting hundreds of families has announced that it is closing its service after failing to cover rent costs
  • A Basingstoke man has avoided jail after police found hundreds of indecent images of children on electronic devices belonging to him
  • Councillors have once again agreed that the number of new homes planned for Basingstoke and Deane should be rejected
  • A new bar with a concept ‘not seen before’ in Basingstoke could be opening in the town
  • A man who called 999 and an emergency service number more than a hundred times without a genuine emergency has been jailed.
  • Residents have been given the chance to have their say on plans that would see warehouses built on countryside near Junction 5 of the M3 motorway
  • A Basingstoke dad died after he was hit by an “erratic and distracted” car driver, who was on his phone minutes before the crash, an inquest has heard
  • Residents have been rallying round to save a historic pub that could be turned into housing if the community fails to raise £1million by Christmas
  • A mother has been left angry after her daughter, who has special needs, has been unable to live in her own home due to a sewage problem
  • PLUS: All the latest from Basingstoke Magistrates' Court
  • Two pages of your letters to the editor
  • Two pages of news from our communities
  • An eight-page puzzle special
  • Two pages of business news
  • Three pages of entertainment news
  • Three pages of sports news. And much more!

READ MORE: 'Her anxiety level is through the roof ': Mother angry after sewage leaks into daughter's home

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