THE partner of a disabled mother claims his family has had a much-needed council house snatched away from them because of discrimination.

Francisco Lopez currently lives with partner Sonia Bainton and her three children in a small two-bedroom house in Canford Heath.

Having waited patiently on a housing list, the family was overjoyed when, through Poole council’s Home Choice scheme, they won a bid for a bigger home.

But having asked for some alterations to be made to accommodate Sonia’s disability, the home was then put back on the market. Francisco said the sudden change of heart amounted to discrimination.

But Poole Housing Partnership, which manages the council’s social housing stock, said an administrative error had meant the house was wrongly advertised.

Francisco, whose wife lost partial use of one of her arms through cancer, said: “They gave us hope that finally we would be getting out and living a normal life. At the moment we are living in a temporary home that is too small.”

Through Home Choice, families can view the homes available and make bids for houses appropriate to them.

Kelly Ansell, housing manager at Poole council, said Home Choice had been “very successful” since its launch and errors were “rare”.

The Melbury Avenue house initially given to Francisco and Sonia was mistakenly advertised as having disability adaptations, such as a chair lift.

Carmolina Brown, head of housing management at Poole Housing Partnership, apologised “unreservedly” to the family for the mistake.

She said their decision had been “quite the opposite” to discrimination, as the house had to be re-advertised in fairness to other interested families.

Francisco and his family were quite welcome to reapply for the Melbury Avenue house and could yet win the bid, she added.

An internal investigation into the administrative mistake has been launched.

But Francisco said: “It is not our fault if someone is not doing their job.

“This has been snatched away from us.”