A frail pensioner who hadn't washed for 13 years and lived in a filthy flat with 'faeces everywhere' has had her life transformed by a kindly neighbour - who spent 60 hours cleaning her flat.

Lucy Ashen, a mother-of-three from Fulham, had lived next to the pensioner for 21 years but only recently discovered the 'absolutely horrific' state of her one-bed flat in south-west London.

After trying multiple times to enter her neighbour's flat, the elderly woman finally allowed the 39-year-old into her home when she got locked out.

Miss Ashen was so shocked at the condition of her home she decided to take matters into her own hands and spent almost a fortnight cleaning it.

She appealed for help online and strangers from all over the world donated enough food and furniture to fill her sparse cupboards and home.

Before: Lucy Ashen was so appalled at the conditions in the flat she spent 10 days scrubbing it clean

After: The Fulham mother and her daughter cleaned the flat, including the pensioner's room

Miss Ashen said what she saw 'will stay with me forever' and she set about gutting the house

Miss Ashen hopes it will help raise awareness of the dangers of elderly people being isolated

The mother-of-three said: 'I've know for a while that she was living in pretty bad conditions but it's taken me a long time to gain her trust enough for her to let me into her house.

'She got locked out one day and I pulled her bedroom window open.

'What I found was horrific - totally horrific. I was speechless.

'There were faeces everywhere. There was lots of furniture everywhere and cushions upside down.'

She added: 'It was absolutely horrific. No one should ever be left to live like that. She has no family and no friends.'

Miss Ashen was so appalled she asked the elderly pensioner - who she affectionately refers to as 'My Lady' - if she could scrub clean her flat.

She said: 'I gutted the entire place. I left her with a bed and a toilet.'

She spent ten days binning the rotting furniture and cleaning the flat while her 14-year-old daughter, Ruby, kept the lonely lady company.

Miss Ashen, 39, discovered her neighbour was living in deplorable and filthy conditions

The pensioner's neighbour scrubbed her flat clean and fixed the TV that had been broken for four years and had been set to a foreign language

They also gave the woman, who has mental health problems, her first bath in 13 years.

Miss Ashen added said: 'She's not very mobile so I helped her. I gave her a bath and cleaned her. My daughter brushed her hair.'

She also fixed her television which had been broken for four years and set to a foreign language.

In the meantime, Miss Ashen asked for donations of furniture, clothes and food on Facebook.

She said: 'It was shared and shared. It went far beyond my friends and family. Even people from Thailand and America got in contact.'

The inside of the fridge was in a disgusting condition when Miss Ashen looked in the flat

After appealing for help online, the fridge is now clean and groaning with food and drink

Miss Ashen transformed the life of her neighbour by spending 60 hours cleaning her flat

She was overwhelmed by the huge response as people gave fridges, sofas and clothes.

'I think it really touched a nerve with people. This could be your mum. This could be you. It could be me in a few years', Miss Ashen said.

She is now in the process of completely renovating the pensioner's flat and has set up a Facebook page called 'My Lady and Me' to update her progress which now has 50,000 followers.

Lucy Ashen, a mother-of-three from Fulham, helped clean the pensioner's flat - her daughter Ruby, 14, has kept her company

She has also set up a Go Fund Me page to raise funds to take the pensioner on a holiday.

Lucy said: 'I think she appreciates it. I've been in her flat every day and my children have been in and out too.

'She's coming out of herself bit by bit. She's been singing songs with my daughter Ruby. She truly has been saved from a lonely and degrading life.

'She has come to life and been reminiscing about her childhood and her past and talking about places she used to visit.

She hopes it will help raise awareness of the dangers of elderly people becoming isolated.

'When I first saw the flat I was angry. This lady was defenceless and helpless.

'She had nobody and didn't have the mental capabilities to ask for help.

'The good thing about this is that it's bigger than her or me or anything. It raises awareness of mental health and elderly isolation.'

The cupboards and fridges were in a filthy state but are now well-stocked thanks to donations