A COUPLE claim a council has refused to house them because they have a car they can live in.

Shaun Jacobs, 29, and Tracey Mayhew, 21, spent last night in a Vauxhall Vectra, in Colchester’s Butt Road car park, having lived in cars for the past three years.

The couple, originally from Suffolk, both left council houses in early 2007 because of difficulties with previous partners. They claim Babergh Council accepted neither had made themselves intentionally homeless.

After a year living in cars, the authority put them up in a hostel while it investigated their case.

Mr Jacobs said: “We got a phone call saying we weren’t eligible to be housed, because I had a car and we could live in that. I couldn’t believe it when they told us and then we got it confirmed in writing.

“We were able to stay in the hostel for a few months with some money from my parents, but they couldn’t really afford it and we had to leave in January 2009.”

Since then, the couple have lived in cars, parking up for the night across south Suffolk and north Essex.

Mr Jacobs said: “It has its good days when the weather’s nice and we’ve been all around the area staying in some lovely spots. But we’ve also had ice inside the car where our breath’s frozen overnight, and we can’t wash or cook properly.

“We’ve got some shelter and space in the car, but we’re just as homeless as someone sleeping rough on the streets.”

The couple, who have been engaged for eight months, are currently on a waiting list for temporary accommodation in Bury St Edmunds.

Mr Jacobs, who is on incapacity benefit because of mental health problems, said: “We’ve been told we could have another two months to wait, so we’re still in the car.

“We hope that once we can move in to a house, we’ll be able to stabilise and get on with our lives, but feel we’ve been treated appallingly.”

The Gazette contacted Babergh Council yesterday, but got no response from its press office.

The couple were in Colchester yesterday for Mr Jacobs to appear before the town’s magistrates.

He admitted making off without paying for £4.90 of petrol from the garage on the A12 near Dedham, on January 16.

He was fined £50 with £65 costs and ordered to pay £4.90 in compensation.

Mr Jacobs said: “We had come to Colchester to visit a friend in hospital and were driving back to Ipswich, where we were staying.

“We were having a row and I just forgot to pay. I had the money in my pocket, and if I’d meant to do it, I would have put a lot more fuel in the car.”