A young Shipley family rescued from their home after an arson attack are still waiting for Bradford Council to find them somewhere to live.

Julia Abbey and her two children, Bethany, six, and four-year-old Ben, have been staying at her father's one-bedroom flat since the blaze almost a month ago.

The family were plucked to safety from their burning home by firefighters, but many of their possessions were destroyed.

Telegraph & Argus readers rallied round to buy the family a host of Christmas presents to replace those damaged in the fire.

But today Mrs Abbey, 24, said she was disgusted the Council had not offered the family anywhere suitable to live.

And Shipley councillor Mark Blackburn accused the Council's housing office of being "insensitive" towards the young family.

"I am living out of three black bin bags at the moment," said Mrs Abbey. "We are just trying to live day by day but we can't do it. We are all feeling the strain of what's happened and my dad is unwell. I've got solicitors and councillors involved in talking to the housing office but nobody seems to be having any luck."

Mrs Abbey has been offered the chance to return to her old flat or move to a fourth floor flat in Valley Road, Bradford.

But she said the nightmare of the fire was still fresh in her mind and said neither place was suitable for the family after what they had been through.

"I fear the same person will strike again," she said. "I am scared to live anywhere that is high up, and I don't want to be living on the third floor of a block of flats. I need to be on a ground floor where I've got two exits so I don't have to jump like last time."

But because she has turned down the offer, she is now not regarded as a priority case.

And she has learned that all the possessions left in her old home in Woodend Crescent, Windhill, have been taken away by the Council and put in storage in Skipton.

Coun Blackburn (Lab, Shipley East) condemned the way she had been treated. "I have a lot of sympathy for the family," he said. "They have been through a pretty horrific experience and I think the Council has been a bit insensitive in the way things have been handled. She is very upset and the Council have made things even harder for her.

"I can understand why she doesn't want to go into these places she has been offered. She was the victim of this episode - why should she have to move?"

A Bradford Council housing spokesman claimed several attempts had been made to help Mrs Abbey.

"We found her a maisonette in Valley Road, Shipley. She turned this down on the grounds it did not have a fire alarm. We offered to look into getting one, but she still rejected the property and offers of local temporary accommodation in favour of staying with a relative for the time being. Repairs to the Woodend Crescent property have been carried out and it will be ready for her to return to within about two months, if she wishes."

The Council would be making a further offer this week. "We are also assisting the police with their arson investigation," he added.