A desperate mum is facing a winter of medical seizures because she can't afford to heat her home.
Kim Herbert, 25, who lives in the city centre, is the mother of three young children with another on the way.
“Stress and cold are both triggers for my epilepsy," she said. "My house is tiny and my bills are extortionate.
"I want to be able to give my children their own space and have money to do things other than just survive."
Kim recently had to change her energy provider after being lumbered with a whopping £200 bill despite her pleas that she had not used the heating.
video-WATCH--Medic-mum-surpris-68c985cd
Kim had to use her family's savings to pay off the debt and cannot afford to do it again.
Since changing providers, Kim still has to pay £100 per month for her energy leaving her unable to heat the house as often as she'd like.
Kim and her daughter Lainey both suffer from seizures and need the house to be warm.
“If something doesn’t change, we will be very poorly this winter.”
Kim always makes sure her bills are paid and her children have nutritional food to eat but says she is often left with nothing for herself.
“I don’t want to be in debt," she said. "So when my bills keep going up, I will always pay but it means less money for food.”
Kim thinks the government should change the rules so that no matter how many children people have there is no reduction to child allowance.
“It has not stopped people having children," she said.
“it’s just resulted in less money to bring them up, I want to ensure my children live as oppose to just survive.”
She said families who are judged for struggling to get by need to be offered support in helping them to manage their money.
“If living wasn’t so expensive, we would be able to get by,” she added.
And Kim says doctors have warned her that her house is not medically safe.
“The rooms are really small and don’t give space for our seizures, and it’s almost impossible for an ambulance to get to us,” she said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here