Housewife ‘distraught’ after her lounge is downgraded to living-room

Relatives were today comforting a 56-year-old Bacup woman after her bungalow’s lounge was downgraded in status to living-room by the Royal Drawing-Rooms and Lounges Society.

Sitting in her living-room on a DFS red five-seater settee in imitation leather, Mrs Hilda Williams said ‘I was confident that they would confirm we had a lounge. I even hoped they might award me drawing-room or sitting-room status. I couldn’t believe it when the assessor said, ‘Sorry, all we’ve got here is a living-room’. It seemed so brutal.’

Assessor Margot Smyth-Taylor said this sort of mistake was all too common. ‘Last week we had the tragic case of a woman who believed she had a drawing-room when in fact she didn’t even have a lounge. When I broke the news to her that she was just a living-room, she was heartbroken. Later, she attempted suicide in her living-room – which is quite amusing when you think about it.’

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