By Thelma Etim BBC News

A �74m government plan to provide secure rooms in the homes of domestic violence victims will provide some abused women with much-needed refuge, says a mother who was forced to flee her own home.

Mother-of-one Daniela left her home after her former partner threatened to kill her and her daughter.

The scheme is aimed at allowing women to stay in their own homes

"It is important that women who are being abused seek help to get out of that environment," says the 40-year-old. "You can't do it on your own."

Daniela was 37 when she fell for a 25-year-old manual worker who "swept her off her feet" in 2004, after she had been single for four years.

"He was young and fit and, as you can imagine, I was flattered by the attention and the fact that he wanted to become part of my life," she said.

"It was a chance meeting. At first, he was really charming, very affectionate and made me feel special again.

"It was like a whirlwind romance - he swept me off my feet. I thought that he was 'the one'.

"My daughter was six at the time and she really liked him."

But only a month into their relationship things quickly turned sour when he began to exhibit the kind of "controlling" behaviour that told her something was very wrong.

She says he began to become jealous, over-possessive and very abusive - verbally abusing and belittling her in the street while shoppers looked on.

I was sucked into a vortex of abuse that I could not see a way out of Daniela Victims offered 'safe rooms'

"He had changed and I realised he was not the man I thought he was," she adds.

The man banned her from working part-time and being a parent governor at her daughter's school. Meanwhile, the violence and intimidation escalated.

But it was when he punched her leg so hard that she could not walk in front of her petrified daughter that she knew she had to flee.

"Once he threatened to burn me and my daughter in our beds," she said.

"I was sucked into a vortex of abuse that I could not see a way out of."

Her daughter had now become introverted and was unable to sleep through night because of his constant threats to harm them.

After he kicked down her front door and threatened to kill her, Daniela called the police and he was arrested.

Starting again

He moved out and was later convicted of common assault and harassment, serving a jail sentence last year.

Victim Support put Daniela in touch with Refuge, who were running a trial of the "sanctuary scheme" offering secure rooms, and she was rehoused by the local housing association.

Daniela now has a safe room with a reinforced door and frame, a mobile phone with a direct line to the local police station, a reinforced front door and bars on her and her daughter's bedroom windows.

"Now that we have relocated to another place, I am beginning to feel safer," she said.

"I think the sanctuary scheme is a good solution for a woman prepared to move away, but I think it could backfire if she remains in the violent home with her partner, as she could become a prisoner in her own home or he could find the keys and lock her in the room."

Reflecting on her own experiences, she says: "He cost me my home, my friends and robbed me of my confidence.