Woman says Bristol Travelodge deliberately cut off water after council stopped paying bill

• Watch Max Walsh's report

A mother from Bristol who fled a fatal tower block fire in Bristol has described her fear after the water and power supply to her hotel room was deliberately cut off at the weekend.

Selma Muuse, 28, and her six year-old autistic son have been living in various hotels since they escaped a fire which broke out on their floor of Twinnell House on 25 September.

Selma remains terrified to return to her former home and Bristol City Council has since found her a new place to live - but it is not yet ready and so she has been asked to return to Twinnell House temporarily.

But after Bristol City Council stopped paying for Ms Muuse's hotel at the end of last week, Travelodge staff cut off her utilities and refused to allow her friends to deliver food to her.

Selma Muuse said: "I am still in shock about what happened. I was very scared. I was worried and I was thinking what am I going to do?

"My heart was racing fast, I was panicking. I was trying to keep calm for my child but at the same time worried for him."

Water and electricity was restored after Travelodge was notified of the situation and they have since apologised to Ms Muuse. But the council is urging her to go back to Twinnell House.

In a statement, the council said: "We do not support the actions of the hotel in this matter and cannot condone the lack of empathy shown.

"This is a complex case and requires the resident to return to their council flat [in Twinnell House] to prepare for a move to another council property, support has been made available by the council throughout this difficult time.

"We are working to get the new flat ready and will do what we can to help this family to settle in their new accommodation in a few weeks.”

But Selma Muuse said: "I can't even go near the building [Twinnell House]. There was a meeting recently at Twinnell House and I could not go near it.

"I literally lived in front of the flat where the fire was. How we had to escape barefooted was just a nightmare. For us to relive that is just inhumane."

Zahra Kosar tried to deliver food to Selma on Saturday but was stopped by security. She said: "I cannot even find words to describe it. To deny a child and mother food. It is just unjustifiable."

In a statement, Travelodge said: “We are sympathetic to Ms Muuse’s situation but we are a hotel business that provides short-term accommodation and we cannot offer Ms Muuse the long-term support that she needs.

"We are sincerely sorry to Ms Muuse and her son for the isolated incident of providing no utility services for an hour on Saturday.

"This action was undertaken by error and is against our operational policies. We are taking the appropriate action with the hotel team to ensure that this type of incident does not occur again.

"Bristol City Council has directly informed us that they will not extend Ms Muuse’s booking, as they have found alternative accommodation to suit Ms Muuse and her son’s needs.

"Therefore Ms Muuse is now in breach of our terms and conditions as she is a non-paying guest. However as a gesture of goodwill we have extended Ms Muuse’s booking by a few days and are intervening to support Ms Muuse come to an amicable agreement with Bristol City Council for her long term accommodation needs.”