THE district council has defended its decision to evict an Exmouth single mum and her 20-month-old son despite her receiving assurances from the property owner that they could stay. Sabina Forbes, 19, and Tyler faced eviction at the end of last year from

THE district council has defended its decision to evict an Exmouth single mum and her 20-month-old son despite her receiving assurances from the property owner that they could stay.Sabina Forbes, 19, and Tyler faced eviction at the end of last year from their authority-leased Morton Road home after the council said the teenager had broken a number of house rules.Goldmax, which owns the property, overturned the eviction order - telling the Journal Miss Forbes and her son could have one last chance.But East Devon District Council insisted Sabina and her son leave within hours of her being told she could stay.Miss Forbes had to sleep on her aunt's sofa for two days - or face life on the streets - until alternative accommodation could be found.Now living in temporary accommodation, just three doors away from her former council home, she said she is waiting for the results of her appeal against EDDC's decision - which she said is already a week late.EDDC said the decision to ask Miss Forbes to leave had been jointly made with Lifecare Solutions, which manages the property, and 'had not been taken lightly'."Careful consideration is given to the individual circumstances but we also need to take into account the message we are giving to other clients. Consistency needs to be the watchword because rules would be unenforceable if one person was treated differently from another," a council spokesman said."In fairness to other clients who have been evicted for similar types of behaviour, and to those currently living in the property, we have to adhere to the standards set by the service provider."We also have a duty to those clients who do abide by the rules, who expect them to be enforced."This client was given clear warnings about the consequences of her behaviour but persisted and so has to face the consequences of her actions."Miss Forbes said: "On the morning I had been told I had to go, the managers came down and said I could stay. They came back in the afternoon and said I had to get out."They sat and watched me move my stuff out and took the keys off me."All the stress made me cry for days and Tyler hasn't been able to sleep."It's wrong that the council did that to us. They didn't even provide me with a bed and breakfast. I had to find one myself."All our stuff is in my mate's shed and is probably all damp and ruined now." A spokesman for Goldmax said when the firm heard its offer had been overturned, it offered to pay for a hotel for the night and help Miss Forbes move her belongings - but she had already made other arrangements."The council instructed us to move them and we had no choice," the spokesman said.