A WOMAN has threatened to squat in an empty house if she is not able to move out of her own apartment.

In March Sharon Brown told The Argus she felt trapped in her third floor flat as she struggled to climb the stairs due to ill health.

She has had several strokes and suffers from arthritis and currently depends on crutches and strong pain killers for her condition.

Five months later she is still living in the same property in Taunton Road, Bevendean, Brighton, where she has to climb 36 steps to reach her front door.

Now she is so desperate to move to a ground floor flat she wants to squat in an empty house she has seen in Whitehawk.

The 53-year-old said: “My mate pointed it out to me.

“It’s right next to the Community Hub and near my family and the hospital, it would be perfect for me.

“The window was open and I was very tempted to get someone to climb in through the window then open the front door.

“Then I could get a locksmith to change the locks and move in.”

Sharon says the stress of not being able to move house has made her health conditions worse since March.

She said: “I have had to go to the doctor’s a lot recently.

“Going up and down those stairs will be the death of me. It has just made me so ill.

“I can’t go out most of the time. I’m under so much stress as well, it can’t be good for my heart.

“I’m stuck and I don’t know what I’m going to do next, I might as well be a prisoner.

“Homes are being built for students but not for the people of Brighton.”

Sharon said she was disappointed that more progress had not been made to allow her to move house since March and said she had regularly requested this from the council.

She said: “There has been nothing done really since the last article came out, and that was in March.

“I thought the council might have learned their lesson from that, but it looks like they have learned nothing.

“They always say they are trying to sort things out with a medical officer.

“It feels like a stuck record.

“I told the council I’m willing to go and squat. I’m desperate.

“I felt like I really needed to make my point clear this time.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “Ms Brown’s medical assessment is now complete and she is able to bid for suitable properties on Homemove.

“As she has indicated that she requires assistance to do this we will contact her early next week before the next Homemove bidding cycle.”