Here is a timeline of The Northern Echo's investigation into vulnerable families being moved hundreds of miles into often unsuitable homes in County Durham and the wider North East.

It was during an interview with The East Durham Trust for a different story that the issue of 'decanting' first came up. It was explained as a process by which councils could move their homeless households to different parts of the country.

The East Durham Trust explained that it was increasing the pressure on resources in their area and adding to an already tricky situation with housing locally.

The next step was trying to get a feel for how widespread the issue was - local MPs confirmed that they were aware that it may be happening but were unsure how many families might be getting moved.

The first solid figure came from London Councils, the organisation representing the borough councils of London, they said that 23 families had been moved in the last year.

We published that first story and soon people began getting in touch with their experiences and it became clear the story was going to be much bigger.

Charities across County Durham confirmed that they were getting families from London moving into the area with little to no support and also large numbers of refugees who had been given the right to stay.

As we were publishing these stories an increasing number of MPs including Grahame Morris, Mary Kelly Foy, Sam Rushworth, and Jonathan Brash expressed their concern about the process.

The next breakthrough was when the Echo was contacted by a young mother in London who explained she was being "forced" to move up to Horden, hundreds of miles from Hillingdon where she lived with her baby boy.

The Echo then pushed the Ministry of Housing to confirm the legality of moving families up to County Durham or anywhere without notifying the local authority. It was confirmed that this would breach the legal requirements of moving a family to out-of-area accommodation.

The latest developments focused on Ferryhill after an interview with the manager of the Ladder community centre revealed that families had been moved to the area regularly for the last six years.

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Homeless people being moved from London to North East

"A tenth" of Ferryhill population moved there by London councils

MPs slam act of homeless Londoners moved to North East

Councillors and charity workers agreed that they thought "a tenth" of the population of Ferryhill had now been moved to the town by southern councils.

Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister, has now intervened and written to councils across the country to warn them to follow the legal requirements when moving families.

Read through every piece we have published during the investigation here: