THIEVES who burgled a teenage mum's home stole all the shoes she owned. Single mum Lisa O'Gorman, 18, says she was left in stockinged feet after the gang ransacked her home in Deepdale Road, Breightmet, as she slept.

Single mother Lisa told how she had woken to find her council house had been broken into and the two pairs of shoes she owns - a pair of trainers and boots - stolen. And the desperate young woman, who receives £70 a week in benefits, claims she simply can't afford to buy any new shoes.

She told the BEN: "I think it's disgusting that someone could invade my house and even make off with my shoes.

"They had only taken the shoes because they are new, but I was given them as presents. "It's not as if I can dip into a bank account and go and buy a new pair.

"All my money goes on my baby and my house and it doesn't leave me with any spare cash to spend on myself."

The gang also escaped with a television and video as Lisa and her 18-month-old daughter Demi-Leigh slept on Monday night.

And now the teenager has been forced to borrow shoes from her friend. She said the Benefits Agency refused to give her a crisis loan to buy new footwear.

She said: "I have been told I have to claim for them on a community care grant which means that by the time I have sent the forms back and they have been processed it could be days before I am allowed some money to buy some more shoes. "If they had allowed me a crisis loan I would have been able to buy some virtually straight away and then pay the loan back every week from my benefits."

But a spokesman for the Benefits Agency stressed to the BEN that Crisis Loans can only be given out if people's health or safety is at risk.

He added: "We cannot comment on Miss O'Gorman's case individually. We can say that the social fund helps people who get certain benefits with exceptional expenses which they have difficulty in meeting from their regular income.

"A crisis loan would not be appropriate in a case like this unless there was a serious risk to the health or safety of the customer."

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