A MOTHER is in hiding after death threats were made against her baby .

Intruders broke into her home and placed a knife and clock on top of her 20-month-old son's clothes.

She made the chilling discovery when she returned home from holiday and found that the front door of her council-owned home in Attlee Terrace, Walthamstow, had been kicked in.

Days later the 22-year-old mother, who does not want to be named, received a death threat saying that her son would be killed.

She immediately fled the house and has been in hiding with relatives since.

Despite the fact that police are investigating the crime, the council refuses to give her a new home in a new area and she has been made to wait on the housing list.

"I'm too scared to move back in," she said. "The council seems to see me as a nuisance. It says that I can't be moved until there is more evidence.

"But what do they want to happen? Do they want my son to die before they let me move house?"

Police are investigating the threat but do not have much to go on at the moment.

The young mother has no idea who broke into her home.

The only hope of finding the person appears to be through forensic tests being carried out on the baby clothes and the knife.

Investigating officer DC Mick Eylett said: "The young lady concerned has been immensely upset by this incident.

"It's really got on top of her and she's now having to live in a crowded house in conditions that I don't think are suitable for a baby.

"We're conducting forensic tests but don't have much to go on. The mother has never been stalked and doesn't have any known enemies."

The council may place her on the housing transfer list once a number of issues with the tenant are resolved.

But it cannot say if and when she will be able to move to a new home. She may face a long wait owing to housing shortages.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The council has interviewed the tenant and is considering a transfer."