A BATCHLEY couple have won their battle to be moved from their one-bedroom flat which they claim is damp and infested with mice.

But Neil and Diana Cooper, who have two small children, were told by Redditch Council the damp was because of "poor housekeeping".

And Mrs Cooper was slapped with a fine for releasing a mouse she found in the flat in her neighbourhood office, despite the council's environmental health department coming out to destroy the vermin.

Mrs Cooper said: "They have charged me money for 'releasing vermin into the office' but I wanted to make the point that they seem to think it's acceptable for my family to have to live with them.

"And we have done nothing that could cause damp.

"My husband suffers from bronchitis and we have a small child and a baby, it's not fair we have to live here.

"We just kept getting told that people from the Cornish homes were getting re-housed but we weren't.

"But we had enough points to be re-housed."

A council spokesman said: "We'll be offering them a two-bedroom flat today which they will be able to look at any time this week.

"All allocations relate to a detailed point system based on individual needs.

"We stick very stringently to this and always have. Re-housing is based entirely on the needs of people shown through this point system."

Mrs Cooper said she was delighted at the news from the council.