An Oxford family claim they have been unfairly treated by Oxford City Council after housing officers refused to allow a house-swap deal.

Michelle Merry, 30, her husband Michael, 36, and three children, Adam, nine, Thomas, seven, and Jason, three, wanted to move from their two-bedroom home on the estate to a three-bedroom house rented by Mrs Merry's grandfather Edward Wall, following his death earlier this year.

The family has now been told by Oxford City Council that they will not be able to move from their council home in Haldane Road, Blackbird Leys, to Mr Wall's larger house five minutes away in Sandy Lane, and that the property has been allocated to another family.

Mrs Merry said: "My husband and my children are broken-hearted by this.

"Every time we walk past the house, we will know that someone else is living there.

"We have got nothing against the family that has been allocated my grandfather's house, but we feel we have been treated very shabbily by the council."

Earlier this month, Mr and Mrs Merry were told they could not move into their relative's council home because he died before the transfer had been finalised. According to Mrs Merry, all the relevant paperwork for the transfer, which the council permits between sitting tenants, had been completed.