too poor to afford beds, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Shocked health workers who made the discovery said it was appalling that this could happen in a country as prosperous as Bermuda.

Nurses from the asthma charity Open Airways found overcrowding was so bad in some houses at the back of Hamilton that children from three separate families were sleeping on floors this year.

The charity was so concerned it bought beds for the children to help them in their recovery from asthma.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome last night promised to look into the cases to see if they had been reported to Family Services for help.

Open Airways founder Liz Boden said the Island's "crazy'' rents meant poor families could not afford large enough houses, resulting in children sleeping on floors.

Mrs. Boden, a nurse, told The Royal Gazette : "It is very definitely a real thing, we are not exaggerating. It absolutely fills me with...horror.

"It is unbelievable, but people ought to know because they don't really believe it. You can drive around Bermuda and think everything is fine, but it is far from it.

"These problems exist elsewhere in the world but it seems more wrong in Bermuda because everyone else here seems to live so well.

"We find people who have the most problems controlling asthma come from the lowest socio-economic groups because of the lack of funds.

"Often the home environment is not favourable so there is no point buying a nebuliser for a child sleeping on a floor. No one believes children sleep on floors in Bermuda, but there are some, unfortunately.

"When they come from very poor backgrounds, they often miss a lot of school and have a lot of other problems. It's awful.

"We've had children sleeping on old beds, and in another instance we've seen a mattress on the floor with several children sleeping on it.'' Mrs. Boden, said she could not recall if the children who received beds were sleeping on bare floors or mattresses. The youngsters were aged between ten and 12, she added.

Editorial; See Page 4 `Children sleeping on the floor' Mrs. Boden explained that sleeping on a floor or a mattress on the floor was bad for children with asthma because it exposed them to dust mites and cockroach droppings, which trigger the allergy.

Old mattresses are also bad for asthma sufferers so the charity has provided some families with special pillows and dust mite covers.

She added: "It's down to poor housing. Bermuda has a big housing problem because it is so expensive and there are many families who are finding problems, which is causing overcrowding and poor home conditions.

"The more overseas companies come to Bermuda, the more the rents rise. The rents are crazy and single parents and poorer families can't afford them.

"There are many needy families around that people are not aware of who can't help their own children in the way they would like.

"We need more low cost housing units. Housing is a community problem, but you can't criticise the Government. This government is probably trying harder than previous governments to look at this problem.'' Mr. Bascome said last night: "Within the department, we have resources to take care of these kinds of families.

"My main concern is that I'd like to know if these families were reported to Family Services because it appears these children could be neglected. I will be looking into this in the morning.

"It seems that we still have families who at times will neglect to seek the appropriate services to help themselves.

"We do have situations of overcrowding where families have doubled up, but there is not a great number.'' Mr. Bascome said he agreed "100 percent'' with Mrs. Boden that more affordable housing was needed in Bermuda.

The Progressive Labour Party Government has been renovating properties and renting accommodation from the private sector to offer at subsidised rates to poorer families.

He said the Bermuda Housing Corporation did have an urgent list which dealt with the most severe cases.

"We do need more affordable public housing and it's too bad that it's taken us this period of time to get the total amount of units up and running,'' Mr.

Bascome said, "but we have put some housing back on the market. We've still got families out there suffering, but it's not an insurmountable problem. I can see light at the end of the tunnel.'' Mrs. Boden was off the Island yesterday and could not be contacted to confirm if the cases had been referred to Family Services.

Investigating: Health Minister Nelson Bascome.