A DESTITUTE woman who has been sleeping rough in a tent in Old Town says she has nowhere else to go because she has no ‘official’ identity.

The 46-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she was originally from the Lorraine region of France.

She pitched her tiny one-man tent amid trees in Lawn Wood in August 2009 after failing the Government’s habitual residence test, despite have numerous qualifications.

The failure means she is ineligible to apply for benefits.

Incredibly, she has survived outdoors through one of the worst winters for 30 years by wrapping herself up in three sleeping bags and staying huddled in her small tent.

She said she came to England on the advice of a friend. After arriving in December 2008, she found a job with a cleaning company, in Reading, but problems soon arose as she claims her employer forgot to sign her contract.

“I have three masters degrees and I was prepared to be a cleaner,” she said.

“When you are prepared to be a cleaner you should get something.

“It is supposed to help you get something better. I thought things would be nice here.”

The woman said she had accommodation until March 2009 but was then asked to leave by her landlord.

“I went to the Salvation Army and they said I had to pay for a room and I had to get housing benefit and a job, but I failed a habitual residence test and started to sleep rough,” she said.

“In June 2009, the job centre in Reading said I wasn’t a resident although I’d been in the UK for seven months and had been looking for something and applied for 200 jobs. They don’t care about a woman left entirely destitute.”

The woman, who no longer has a passport, receives shower vouchers from the charity Threshold Housing Link and food hand-outs from churches and charities such as The Filling Station, based in Carfax Street car park.

Threshold Housing Link operations director Phil Smith said : “We do our best to help and we provide shower vouchers. We think there is more that can be done for her, but she really needs to be willing to work with with the agencies that can help. We can help her to endure the streets but that is not what our role is. We want to get people off the streets.”

A Swindon Council spokesman said: “We first became aware of this lady in November and various charities and bodies working alongside the council have tried to engage with her in that time.

“However, she has not been willing to receive any help and we cannot force her to access any of the services open to her.”