This although local authorities ‘should not place victims in bed and breakfast accommodation’.

The number of domestic violence victims forced into bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation in England has shot up by 16 per cent in two years.

A total of 125 responses from local authorities to Freedom of Information requests show that councils placed 1,980 domestic abuse victims in bed and breakfast accommodation in 2013/14, compared to 1,701 in 2011/12 – an increase of 279.