COUNCIL chiefs have halted the eviction of an agoraphobic woman following her emotional plea for compassion.

Sandra Shaw made her plea in the Daily Echo after Southampton City Council threatened to kick her out of her Maybush home, despite the severity of her condition.

Now, following discussions between her family and council housing bosses, she has been told that she will be able to stay in the council home until she has beaten her condition.

Prior to the agreement, council officers had hand-delivered an eviction notice to her on Thursday saying that she would have to leave the home in Alder Road by September 9.

Mrs Shaw’s condition is so severe that she only left her Southampton home once in 20 years.

The 61-year-old moved into the council house in 1991 to live with her mother Eileen.

She had first started developing agoraphobia, which is a fear of space, in 1985 but it worsened after she moved in with her mum.

It has led to panic attacks, chest pains, migraines and her developing posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome.

Although she has made improvements in recent months, she is still unable to manage more than a few steps outside her front door.

The mum-of-one had been given a council carer who was helping in her recovery, but the carer was taken away after a reshuffle in the authority’s adult social care team.

Eileen died in September, and Mrs Shaw was then told by the council that she would have to leave the house as she was not the rightful tenant of the property.

The authority says her threebedroom home is needed to meet demand on its 14,000-strong housing waiting list.

Even though she wanted to compromise with the council by saying she would leave the house when she had beaten her condition, the council issued her with the eviction notice, telling her to vacate the house within the next month.

But following the delivery of the eviction notice on Thursday, her son Ian held crunch talks with senior housing managers and they have now agreed to postpone her eviction until she has beaten her agoraphobia.

Discussions are now under way to find Sandra care workers to help her in her battle.

Mrs Shaw said: “I’m really happy, it gives me the time to get well.

“I’m confident that I can continue to get better if I’m given that time.”

Ian added: “At the end of the day, I just want my mum to have peace of mind that she won’t have to leave until she is ready.

“As long as the mental health team pull their finger out and help mum I feel confident that she will get better.”

Ward councillor Don Thomas, who backed the Shaw family in their battle, said: “It appears common sense has prevailed.

Mrs Shaw’s condition demands more time, no more and no less.

“Is it perhaps starting to emerge that just maybe, just maybe, the council has got a heart?

“Can I thank the Daily Echo for highlighting a situation which is, and no one should ever forget, of no one’s making.”

A council spokesman said: “While Mrs Shaw is not going to be evicted in the near future, the case will continue, and she will still be required to move.

“We believe that she has made good progress with her wellbeing in recent months, and hope she will continue to do so, making moving to a smaller, more appropriate property, possible.”