A last-ditch community campaign has forced an east London council to halt its decision to evict a heavily pregnant refugee and send her 250 miles away from her family.

As revealed by openDemocracy on Friday, Tower Hamlets Council was today set to force Ayana* – who is due to give birth in early April – to move to Middlesbrough in the north of England, where she has no support network or medical history.

But after an appeal from a law firm who took on Ayana’s case, the council today withdrew the eviction notice “pending further enquiries”.

“I’m so glad that the council has changed its decision,” Ayana, who asked us not to use her real name for fear of abuse, told openDemocracy. “I was scared – I was waiting all day [to hear back]. I didn’t have any hope. I was going to accept whatever [decision] it is but thank god it’s good news for all of us.

“I’m glad that I’ll be able to deliver my baby here near my family so that after I have my baby, my family can come and help look after us.”

In an email from a paralegal at Lawstop on Monday morning, Ayana was told the council would continue to provide temporary accommodation “pending further enquiries to establish any housing duties that may be owed”.

The council had initially doubled down on its decision, telling openDemocracy on Thursday that Ayana had lived in Middlesbrough for two years before coming back to London and it had made a referral to Middlesbrough Council for housing following “enquiries into her circumstances”.

Ayana moved to the UK from Eritrea in 2020 with her now ex-husband. Although she did spend two years working at factories and a care home in Middlesbrough, she no longer has any connections there and moved back to Shadwell almost a year ago.

She became homeless at the start of the year and was housed in a B&B in as a form of emergency accommodation. But earlier this month, Tower Hamlets Council rejected her application for housing, saying she had more of a local connection to Middlesbrough and should be housed there instead. She disputes this, saying her relatives live in east London and that all her maternity care is here.

Even a midwife had told her the council’s decision was “nonsense” and that she “can’t go because all [her] medical history is here”.

Though welcome news, the council said it could not put a timeframe on the review, meaning it is not known how long Ayana will be allowed to stay in temporary accommodation.

Ayana is also yet to find out from the council about whether she will continue to be housed in the B&B or if she’ll be moved to self-contained temporary accommodation which would give her the freedom to cook her own meals and do her own laundry – things she has not been able to do while living in the B&B.

Elizabeth Wyatt from HASL said: “Ayana should never have had to go through this immense stress which could have had extremely harmful consequences for her and her unborn baby. She was very nearly made street homeless by the council when they knew all along that she did have a local connection with them. The council backed down as soon as they faced having to defend their decision in front of a judge.

“As the homeless crisis reaches devastating new heights with record numbers of people in temporary accommodation one of the ways that local councils are responding is by making cruel and unlawful decisions like in Ayana's case knowing that it will be hard for people to challenge them when legal aid is also in crisis. How many other homeless families across the country are being denied their basic homeless rights and left in dangerous situations or even destitute?”

*Name has been changed