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What happens when you鈥檙e 17 years old and you suddenly find yourself homeless?

As a child, you would expect that social services and other authorities would find you a warm and safe place to live.

What you wouldn鈥檛 expect is to be put somewhere on your own, in the cold, and at risk from serious harm.

File on 4 tells the shocking story of one teenager's experience when he found himself without a roof over his head.

His mum tells the programme he would contact her in the middle of the night, depressed and lonely; 鈥淗e would text me saying I鈥檓 cold, I鈥檓 hungry鈥�. She says the fight to get her son the care and support that he needed has left them broken.

We explore the impact on both his physical and mental health and ask why he was let down? Is his case one of a kind? Or are other local authorities failing in their duty to provide the right care and support for homeless young people?

Reporter: Emma Forde
Producer: Matthew Chapman
Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit; Photofusion\Getty