'I was going crazy' People sent 250 miles to fend for themselves

For much of the 20th century, the streets of Horden housed a thriving community of mining families who took pride in their small but well-kept homes.

- Sammy Gecsoyler

For much of the 20th century, the streets of Horden housed a thriving community of mining families who took pride in their small but well-kept homes. Matriarchs would scrub their porches and the streets were clear of rubbish. Fortunes changed when the local colliery, once one of the largest in the country, closed in 1987.

Today, many houses in this deprived pocket east of Durham are abandoned. Smashed windows and rubbish-strewn streets are a common sight. The local council has installed fake doors and windows to cover up the sad state of once-loved homes.

As the area falls into deeper disrepair and local people continue to leave, there has been an influx of new arrivals: homeless families, many of whom feel they have been forced there by big city councils hundreds of miles away.

The Guardian spoke to people and families sent up from London after a 24-hour threat of eviction from temporary accommodation if they refused an offer of a private tenancy in the area. Young single mothers and recently recognised refugee families are often those given the ultimatum.

Among them is Faruk (not his real name). He and his young son arrived in Horden with little more than a pillow each. After presenting as homeless to a London council, he had been told his only option was to accept the private tenancy more than 250 miles away.

"The council told me if you don't take this house, you're homeless. Nobody else, no other council, will help you," he said. "I wasn't happy to come here. It's so far from London. I knew nothing about Horden." Faruk has no neighbours. The two homes on either side of him are boarded up. "The council said, if you come to this house you will have everything, it will all be ready." When he arrived, there was no gas or electricity in the property.