The sister of TV actress Leslie Ash has won a reprieve in her battle to stop a public school and a mortgage company selling her home to pay off her debts.

Former Hot Gossip dancer Debbie Ash owes £8,000 to Millfield School, which sought permission from a county court judge to sell two properties to clear the debt.

She was saved from being made homeless yesterday until her divorce is finalised in a fortnight.

The mother-of-two is also being pursued by a finance house for mortgage arrears on her seafront flat in Marine Court, St Leonards.

Yesterday lawyers for the school asked a judge to allow the flat to be sold in a bid to recoup the debt which has been outstanding for the last six years.

However, the district judge at Hastings County Court ruled that no action could be taken against her until her divorce settlement was resolved later this month.

She claims she is unable to sell her second home in the resort because her estranged husband lives there.

Ms Ash, 47, said: "I told the judge I was doing my best to pay off the debts and he believed me.

"I feel like I'm being attacked from all sides."

She said she was forced to withdraw her daughter, Holly, from the school after she split from the child's father and could no longer afford the £3,000-a-term fees. He allegedly stopped paying maintenance to Ms Ash who was unable to continue her comfortable lifestyle.

The school's move was the latest blow for Ms Ash who is shunned by her famous actress sister Leslie.

The Men Behaving Badly star has refused to talk to her since she publicly pleaded with her to end her marriage to ex-soccer star Lee Chapman.

Ms Ash, who was previously married to motorbike stunt rider Eddie Kidd and had a five-year relationship with Status Quo's Rick Parfitt, is divorcing second husband Peter Aboro, whom she married when he was in jail.

Paul Oddie, the bursar of Millfield, said: "With regards to Debbie Ash and the outstanding debt to Millfield, the debt was incurred in 1999 and we have been trying to get her to pay for her child's education since she left the school six years ago.

"We feel we have been very patient in allowing this situation to go on for so long."