Mel, who is 17, was abused between the ages of six and 12. At 13 she started self-harming with knives and attempted suicide several times.

She received psychiatric treatment and stayed at a residential unit.

But now Mel has changed so much that social services has said she can live on her own under their supervision.

Mel said she used self-harming as a coping mechanism, and on one occasion, a policeman stopped her committing suicide.

"The train was coming, and there were about 15 police officers there... one police officer came down and restrained me at the side of the train track. If it wasn't for that police officer I wouldn't be able to be telling you this today," she said.

'Hard slog'

Her mother, who asked not to be identified, said: "I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, knowing that my daughter was in so much pain and I couldn't do anything to help her. I was just expecting a phone call saying my daughter had committed suicide. She used to beg the homes not to ring me to tell me, but I needed to know.

"At the end of the day she's my daughter, who's been to hell and back and all I can do is be here to support her 110%. It's been a hard slog, but we're getting there."

Mel stayed at two other children's homes before her current residential unit, which offers semi-independent living for 16 to 18-year-olds.

She now stays five days with her mother and two at her care home, and feels that being able to talk and share her problems with the staff there has helped her to turn the corner.