Quite frankly I was disgusted with the rant featured in The Comet the other week regarding teenage mums getting council flats. If only you knew the process teenagers have to go through to get a council property! I am a teenage mother who is feeling the gr

Quite frankly I was disgusted with the rant featured in The Comet the other week regarding teenage mums getting council flats.

If only you knew the process teenagers have to go through to get a council property! I am a teenage mother who is feeling the grudge that society has against us. Firstly I had to go through the homeless system to get my flat. This meant three years in a grubby hostel where not only was I victimised by other teenage parents because I work full time, but by the staff there too for the same reason.

I was petrified every night when I got home as to what would kick off next. Secondly some of us teenage parents do work, I have a full-time job and have to pay a childminder almost as much as I earn every month, and full rent, council tax and my college fees! I think I truly deserve my council flat. However I think that there needs to be a serious change to get things moving along, getting more people into employment, it is not rocket science getting a job, the bums of this world should be encouraged to work, or have benefits stopped. The bottom line is that it is far too easy for people to live off our taxes - so while they can, they will

LOUISE WRIGHT

* When Sean Kelly (Easy for Mums) says, among other things "why should I pay extortionate rent to a private landlord". I infer that he means to go on to say "when I could have a decent council flat and pay a reasonable rent".

One answer might be that some tenants eventually buy their council accommodation and then sell it on, often to private landlords, with the result that decent, affordable housing is now in short supply.

The council accommodation which we so desire and cherish sets some sort of benchmark for rents, probably because the council is a democratically elected, non-profit organisation. Landlords on the other hand...

KEVIN McCLINTOCK, Wisden Road, Stevenage