Vulnerable Birmingham families forced out of their homes through arson or domestic violence are being put up in budget hotels as far away as Stoke-on-Trent - almost 50 miles away.

A Castle Vale family of four, including two with disabilities, were forced out of their home following a firework arson attack and spent three weeks in a Wolverhampton Travelodge.

They were then moved to Rugeley , some 25 miles away.

And a mother and her four children, forced to flee domestic violence, have been put up at a budget hotel in Stoke-on-Trent.

She has to commute for hours EVERY DAY to get her children to and from school and spent £70 on a taxi when her car broke down.

The families are also living on takeaways as the hotels do not even have a microwave for guests.

The shocking plight of the families has now prompted calls for vulnerable families to be guaranteed temporary accommodation much closer to home.

The city council, which is responsible for finding accommodation for families in crisis, says it has been overwhelmed by demand for temporary places.

June Hobbis and her children Gary, 29, Gemma 24 and Ajay 16 were forced to leave their Castle Vale home after someone launched a firework through the letterbox on October 30 - setting the curtains on fire and damaging the property.

Gemma has cerebral palsy and needs round-the-clock care and specialist equipment, while Ajay, who also has learning difficulties risks losing his college place after being sent away.

Miss Hobbis said: “To locate my family 22 miles away from home is ridiculous. I thought this was temporary, we have been here for over three weeks now.

“I have two disabled children and we are struggling to live in hotel rooms let alone being so far away from home, we have no cooking facilities and are living on takeaways.”

She has not been told when her rented housing association home will be habitable again.

Conservative campaigner in Castle Vale Suzanne Webb has raised the family’s case.

She said: “The city council need to do much more for June and find suitable accommodation closer to home. Both children need assistance; they are living in cramped hotel rooms.

"This is just indicative of a city council that does not care about its residents and in this case it is more than shocking as there are two disabled children involved.”

Travelodge hotel.

Meanwhile, a mother and her four children including a toddler, are fleeing her abusive partner and have been sent to share two rooms in Stoke-on-Trent.

Citizens UK campaign group and the children's primary school are lobbying the city council to move her nearer to home.

They say: “She feels in despair because of her situation. The journey from Stoke is awful. The Travelodge is highly unsuitable.

"There are not even facilities to heat the baby’s milk. She is trying to manage her work, care for her children and getting them all to school as well as she can. She feels overwhelmed."

Citizens UK lead organiser Saidul Haque Saeed said: “A few years ago Birmingham City Council was objecting to London boroughs moving vulnerable families into the city to save money.

"Now it seems Birmingham is doing the same. Is it really the case Birmingham City Council can no longer offer emergency accommodation within its city boundaries anymore?”

Households are made homeless through a range of reasons including eviction, repossession, domestic violence, family breakdown, leaving care as well as fires and floods.

Birmingham has seen a huge increasing in emergency homelessness in the last year.

According to a recent cabinet report the number of homeless households in July was 1,907, an increase of more than 400 in a year.

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said: “We are checking daily to see if we can find suitable local temporary accommodation for both of these families.

"We are faced with an unprecedented demand for temporary accommodation which is why we were hoping to be able to convert Barry Jackson Tower into temporary accommodation for people in crisis such as these two families.

"We would never choose to house people so far away but we simply have no alternative at the moment.”

An online search revealed that the majority of budget chain hotels in Birmingham are booked as the city’s German Market and festive events kick in.

However there were places available on the fringes of the city.