A MOTHER of twin sons serving in the army has won her case after taking on a council which insisted she was liable for 'bedroom tax'.

Alison Huggan says it was the “principle” which led her to challenge Middlesbrough Council’s stance that her sons’ home was their barracks.

The 49-year-old from Coulby Newham disagreed and took the council to tribunal where she won her case, on January 7, along with a refund of around £700.

The mother, of 19-year-old Anas, a member of the Yorkshire Regiment First Battalion and Aaron, who is in the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, said: “It was overwhelming seeing the decision in writing although I was very confident going in.”

The row broke out after the council said that she would be liable to pay £25 a week for their rooms, despite the Government announcing last March that families with adult children in the armed forces would be exempt.

She said: “We challenged the Government and we were overwhelmed in April when they said the armed forces were exempt. But then I hit another brick wall.

“In my head it was morally wrong. I couldn’t believe that the Government would announce that the armed forces would be exempt when in effect they were not.

“When I read the amendment myself it was as plain as the nose on my face that we should be exempt.”

However despite winning her case, she has now chosen to move into a smaller home as Anas has just married.