A GRANDMOTHER has refused to be uprooted by the bedroom tax because where she lives “is a home, not a house”.

Linda Charnock has become a leading figure in the borough’s Bolton Against the Bedroom Tax campaign, which has already seen membership rocket since its launch earlier this month.

The grandmother-of-three worked with victims of domestic violence until a year ago, when she lost her job, and is now in receipt of Income and Support Allowance — formerly Incapacity Benefit.

Mrs Charnock, of Raikes Way, Darcy Lever, says the ashes of her mother and brother are scattered in the garden of the four-bedroom house she has lived in for the last 16 years.

She said: “My daughter is about to move back in because she’s pregnant, so I’ll have two unoccupied bedrooms and have to pay £24-a-week — that’s 25 per cent of my income. I worked for six years before I lost my job because of government cuts and volunteered for two years before that.

“I’m in arrears because of this, and was in debt because of losing my job. They’re asking people to move when there’s nowhere to move to. I just think it’s disgusting.”

Since its launch, Mrs Charnock said the group’s membership has risen from 20 to almost 140. She said: “We want to work together with other groups and just get stronger.”

The government trebled the amount of cash it gave to Bolton Council this year for discretionary housing payments, which can be used to help people who are struggling to pay their rent or council tax.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman, said: “It’s only right that we bring fairness back to the system when in England alone there are nearly two million households on the social housing waiting list and over a quarter of a million tenants are living in overcrowded homes.”