A carer who provides round-the-clock support for her disabled parents is being threatened with separation from her family, writes Alison Bartlett.

Caroline Lockyer moved into her parents' home in Bower End, Chalgrove, four years ago to provide 24-hour care for her mother and father.

Miss Lockyer's boyfriend Martin Rawlings and two children, Dean, nine, and Curtis, two, also live there, and the housing association, Sovereign Homes, has warned the Lockyer family that they are in breach of their tenancy agreement and could face court action. It says the two-bedroom bungalow for the elderly is not suitable for four adults and two children.

Miss Lockyer, 26, said: "I am hoping to be rehoused by South Oxfordshire District Council in Chalgrove because the house is very cramped and I need to be close to my parents.

"I have been offered bed and breakfast accommodation in Didcot and Oxford, but then I will not be on hand for my parents."

Miss Lockyer's father, Jeff, 50, suffers from angina and relies upon an oxygen mask, and his wife, Sandra, 53, has angina and Menieres disease, which causes giddy spells and keeps her bedridden. Mrs Lockyer cannot cook, clean or shop and needs help washing herself. Her husband has difficulty walking.

A Sovereign Homes spokesman said it had sent a letter to the family, but this was a warning, rather than the first stage of court action.

"We are always extremely reluctant to take tenants to court, particularly in this case, as we are well aware that the couple are both unwell and find themselves in this position unwittingly, he added. "We are making every effort we can to help resolve the problem with visits and by offering advice on other organisations and housing advice agencies that Mr and Mrs Lockyer's daughter could approach to help her find other more suitable accommodation for the rest of the family."