A MOTHER who saw her family made homeless is "relieved a chapter has been closed" after a man was jailed for crashing into her family home.

Michelle Yeates, her partner Craig Collins and five young children were forced to live in a hotel once Eljado Prendaj had crashed his car into the home on Leigh Road, Eastleigh on November 8.

The family has since moved into a new property but they still face an uncertain future, with the house sustaining £40,000 worth of damage and being deemed unsafe by the fire authorities and housing association.

She said: "I'm glad he's been punished and although no one has been hurt, our lives have been turned upside down.

"I don't think people understand how much it's affected us.

"Everyone in the community have been amazing, donating furniture for our new home. The children have been amazing and adapted to the move.

"We still have no idea if we'll ever be able to go back to the house yet, so it's a bit unsettling especially before Christmas.

"But I'm relieved this chapter has been closed and justice has been served. It's a big sigh of relief for us.

"To us he is a nobody. He didn't intentionally mean for this to happen but he is still the man who took our home away and turned our lives upside down."