'First' riot-related eviction notice served (From Wandsworth Guardian)

'First' Battersea riot-related eviction notice served by Wandsworth Council

3:02pm Friday 12th August 2011 in News

A council tenant whose son has appeared in court charged in connection with the Battersea riots has today been served with an eviction notice.

The tenant is believed to be the first in the country to now be facing the prospect of losing their council-owned home as a result of Monday night’s rioting and looting in St John's Road and Lavender Hill.

The process will see Wandsworth Council apply through the courts for the eviction to be granted - with the ultimate decision resting with a judge.

Neither the tenant nor their son can be named at this stage for legal reasons.

Council leader, Councillor Ravi Govindia, said the authority's housing department was working swiftly to assess whether to take action on tenants undergoing magistrates courts hearings.

He added: "Our officers will continue to work with the courts to establish the identities of other council tenants or members of their households as more cases are processed in the coming days and weeks.

"Most residents on our housing estates are decent law-abiding citizens who will have been sickened at the scenes they witnessed on their TV screens this week. Many will have seen their places of work trashed at the hands of these rioters.

"As much as anything else we owe it to them to send out a strong signal that this kind of violence will not be tolerated."

Tenants who take part in a range of specified criminal and anti-social activities can be evicted as this breaches council tenancy agreements.

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