A mum has spoken of her “nightmare” after a council impounded her baby buggy on health and safety grounds.

Lee-Anna Futcher said the ruling has left her virtually housebound and she can’t afford the £50 release fee.

She was struggling to carry both seven-day-old Mason and the heavy pram up two flights of stairs in the block of flats where she lives.

The 28-year-old waited for her partner to return and bring the buggy up from the hall – only for Bournemouth council to remove it.

“They said it’s health and safety, but what about the health and safety of a mum struggling upstairs with a baby?” said Lee-Anna, a mum-of-three from Bear Cross.

“Trying to pull a heavy pram up would be difficult for anybody.

“I understand where the council are coming from. But £50 is daylight robbery. That would be our rent for a week.”

The council recently put up an A4 warning sign with small print, saying items left in the communal hall would be removed.

Lee-Anna said: “I just didn’t take it in.”

She added: “They said we should lock it in the shed. But I am not going to put a new buggy into a cold, damp shed. It’s been broken into a few times.”

She now struggles to carry Mason around in a car baby seat.

Her partner, Matthew Clark-Bradbury, 26, earns £190 a week as a warehouse operative and the couple cannot afford the release fee.

Matthew’s father Terence Bradbury, a college lecturer, from Kinson, said: “They wouldn’t have left the buggy there all night, just for a few hours.”

Council housing manager Ian Shaw said: “The health and safety of our residents is our number one priority.

“It is our responsibility to ensure fire escape routes are clear, and the importance is evident when you read the tragic story of the tower block fire that killed six people in Camberwell in July.

“Housing officers asked residents to keep the exit routes clear and not to leave obstructions in the corridors.

“However, as this proved unsuccessful, we sent letters to all residents informing them we would have to take action to remove items ourselves.”

Lee-Anna said: “I just want my buggy back. Even if I do get it, I don’t know what I will do if I can’t leave it downstairs. It will be a nightmare.

“No-one else in the block has complained to me about it, not once.”