A vulnerable homeless woman was left living in temporary accommodation for 11 months too long due to council failings, a watchdog has found.

Hounslow Council was ordered by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) to apologise to the woman for the delay and pay her £1,450 for the stress and anxiety caused.

It was also ordered to review its housing procedures and provide extra training for staff dealing with homeless people.

The woman, who cannot be named, first approached the council in August 2011. She claimed she was homeless after fleeing domestic abuse by her partner, according to the ombudsman.

She was given temporary bed & breakfast accommodation but told she was not in 'priority need' of permanent housing, despite having attempted suicide three times since April that year.

That decision was overturned on appeal and the council accepted in December 2012 that it had a duty to find her a permanent home. She eventually moved into that new home in November the following year.

The ombudsman criticised the council for taking 62 weeks to reach a final decision about the woman's circumstances, when the law says it should take 15.

"Our delays caused this woman considerable stress and anxiety"

The watchdog, which also criticised the council for overlooking the woman's mental health issues, said it could not find "any explanation" for such a "significant delay".

Hounslow Council was ordered to issue a public notice, which it did this week, following the publication of the LGO's report in September.

The council, which has more than 3,000 households on its waiting list for social housing, said it had appointed an independent housing review officer to examine contested cases.

Councillor Katherine Dunne, cabinet member for housing, said: "Our delays caused this woman considerable stress and anxiety so we have written to apologise formally.

"She did eventually find a permanent home through our housing allocations system, but we failed to live up to our ambition to look at cases like this quickly and sympathetically.

"We have accepted the Ombudsman's recommendations in full, and have taken steps to ensure that these sorts of cases do not happen again."