A family has been forced to live in a hotel after their housing association blamed a leak that caused their ceiling to collapse - on CATS.

Stacey Sell has been staying at a Premier Inn with her partner Mark Thwaites and her two children for a fortnight after the leak damaged their home in Maidstone, Kent.

The 39-year-old first noticed an issue back in December last year after spotting water dripping from the ceiling above her front door and wet patches on her bedroom floor above.

She reported the leak to Golding Homes who inspected it but said it may just be her cats using the bedroom as a bathroom causing the ceiling to leak.

The mistake allowed the leak to continue, finally causing the ceiling of their home to collapse, with a chunk narrowly missing one of the kids.

No work was carried out and the leak continued, she says. Then in February Stacey followed up the issue with the housing association as a small crack appeared above the door.

It wasn’t long until that crevice became a hole and by March 6 the ceiling collapsed altogether.

Stacey said: "The hole appeared then over the next couple of days it got bigger."

"When some of the ceiling in the front room fell down there was a nail in it. My son was standing underneath and almost got hit in the head."

Stacey added: "It’s all been very stressful. On the day we were told to move out I phoned my boss to say I was needing to take the day off from the stress."

"My partner had to take time off work too."

Stacey and her family will continue to stay at the Premier Inn until their home is repaired.

Sian Humphreys, Assistant Director of Repairs & Maintenance at Golding Homes, said: "We’re very sorry for the inconvenience caused to this family."

"We acted promptly to make the ceiling safe when the issue was first reported to us and further investigation this week has found a hole in a heating pipe."

"We remain focused on making sure the family can return to the comfort of their home as soon as possible."

"Their safety and wellbeing are our primary concerns and we’ve arranged for them to stay in hotel accommodation while repairs are ongoing."