A 71-year-old grandmother has been living in her car with her two cats while pleading with Ashford council to help her find a permanent home.

But nomadic Hannah Rose, who arrived in Kent last week after years on the road, says she is not trying to scrounge a free house.

Instead she dreams of joining a self-sufficient eco community and was asking the council to help her find a caravan to rent while she gets back on her feet.

Ms Rose is hoping to find a home before winter sets in, but was facing a barrage of problems and had spent nights in Sainsbury's car park in Simone Weil Avenue as well as in other store car parks.

She is now staying in bed and breakfast accommodation and was due to meet the council's housing team this week - but is still uncertain where she will spend the winter.

"The people of Ashford have been amazing. It's really heartwarming..." - nomad Hannah Rose

She said: "I am in limbo. The first morning I woke up in Sainsbury's car park I felt like howling. It was only the sunshine that kept me upbeat.

"This week I was saved by a miracle as my winter fuel payment went in. I couldn't have survived without it. I have two fleeces given to me by a woman I met when putting my things in storage and they stop me freezing.

"I also have someone who lets me use their shower – you can only wash with baby wipes for so long.

"I used to sleep in my trailer, but one night I was woken up by a water bomb. The rain had accumulated on top of the trailer and it all came through the roof onto me.

"I now have a trailer full of soaking wet clothes and bedding and I need somewhere to put it all to dry. I can't go on like this for much longer, but I can't give up. I've put so much effort into the trailer and I've got so far."

The mother of three, whose children all live abroad, was told by police last week she could not leave Sainsbury's car park until the trailer's broken brake lights were fixed – but over the weekend a good samaritan did the work.

And a young woman Ms Rose got talking to at Ashford Library went home to get a spare duvet to keep the homeless pensioner warm in her car.

She added: "The people of Ashford have been amazing. It's really heartwarming.

"I think it's appalling the council doesn't have a list of static caravan sites to give someone who is trying to help themselves. But I'm grateful they have put me in temporary accommodation while I sort myself out.

"My ideal would be to find somewhere to live that does eco tourism. I will be able to claim housing benefit from a static caravan. I desperately need an address."

Speaking about her 16-year-old feline friends Brinnie and Tiggles, who are still living in the car in the B&B car park, she added: "People might say it's cruel to have cats living in the car, but it would be more cruel to put them in a cattery away from me because with me they're happy.

"They have been amazing company. They used to sleep in the trailer with me before the rain came in. I am looking for something rural where they will be happy."

Ms Rose was born in Middlesex and has lived all over the UK and in Germany and Egypt.

She has a daughter in Perth, Australia, a son and daughter in Germany and two grandchildren she has never met.

She owned her own house until 1996, when she "lost it to the bank thanks to my ex", and has since lived in council homes and almshouses.

She stayed with travellers on a farm in Surrey for a year in a "grotty" caravan where she had to carry fresh and waste water from one side of the site to the other every day.

One campsite she was staying on in Sussex closed for the winter and the one she moved to flooded so she came to Kent - leaving clothes, paperwork and other items behind.

The keen recycler - who is known to friends as the resourceful woman - built her trailer herself from donated wood, glass from an old bookcase, pond liner and other salvaged materials.

She made furniture and fitted the trailer with electricity to power two oil radiators and a dehumidifier.

The makeshift home is decorated with hanging baskets and features a rooftop retreat for her cats.

Ms Rose - who achieved a degree in French with linguistics aged 47 and also speaks German, Italian and Egyptian - said she could work as a translator, English teacher or administrator within an eco community and would donate her trailer to use as a playhouse if she was able to live in a shared building.

Ashford Borough Council spokesman Mark James said: "We placed Hannah Rose in temporary accommodation on Friday night pending further investigations.

"She had an appointment booked in with our housing options team this week.

"We need to assess what level of duty we have to her and until we have had the opportunity to investigate her circumstances further we will not be able to comment."