A MOTHER-of-three claims she has been bullied out of her Somerset home after years of verbal abuse - including being called a "sheep-sh****r" - because she is Welsh.

Kerryann Chidley, 34, who moved to England from Wales three years ago, says she has "never known so much hatred".

Kerryann, who has two children with disabilities, says the whole family have been through three years of hell, verbally abused and was chased down the street by a knife-wielding yob.

The full-time carer to her three children, Kerryann has been bullied out of her town of Highbridge and is having to relocate because of the abuse she has faced.

Kerryann, originally from Cardiff, said: "I've been through three years of hell. It's been unbelievable.

"I've been called all sorts. I've been called a sheep-sh****r, my children have been called sheep-sh****rs. My daughter is in a special school, and she's been called a mongrel.

"Other parents have told me and my children to **** off. I've never known so much hatred.

"It's like we're prisoners in our own home. I can't even let my children go out on their own - and they are 17, 15 and 12.

"I've had people trying to bash in my door, I've had fireworks thrown through my window. My son went out last week and he got threatened with a knife.

Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News:

"People say to me, 'Go back to your own country' - even though I've just come from the other side of the bridge. It's gone beyond a joke," Kerryann added.

Kerryann and her three children moved from Cardiff to Bridgwater, Somerset, just over three years ago - and she said that, at first, everything was fine.

But not long after, she made the short, eight-mile move from Bridgwater to Highbridge - and that's when the abuse began.

She said: "We've been through so much. I just don't want to put up with it anymore. We've got to move.

"I've had a nervous breakdown and my anxiety is back. I'm having mental health problems because of the stress this has caused."

She added that those responsible for the family's problems are mainly a group of youths aged between 12 and 18 - but that their parents are doing nothing to stop the abuse.

Kerryann has even tried to get Avon and Somerset Police involved - but feels they have not done enough to help her and her children.

She added: "I just want people to stop picking on us, stop treating us differently. We're a normal family. Just leave us alone.

"I want to speak out so it doesn't happen to anyone else. I've had enough. It has got to stop.

"It's disgusting. It's a hate crime. We're all human, it shouldn't matter what colour you are, where you're from, whether you've got a disbility.

"I would never treat someone like that," Kerryann said.

She hastened to add that her neighbours on her street in Highbridge have been a "huge help", and that she "couldn't have asked for better".

Kerryann has managed to secure a new property elsewhere in Somerset, and hopes to move soon - but would not say exactly where.