Residents who helped their housing association evict a nightmare neighbour were praised in court last week for their courage. Riverside worked with Merseyside Police and local tenants to gain a court order for re-possession of a property at Haydn Road in Liverpool last week after the tenant subjected neighbours to two years of noise nuisance, disturbances in the street and criminal activity at his home in the Knotty Ash area of the city.

Riverside received numerous reports of anti-social behaviour and misuse of the property. The association’s Community Safety team approached the tenant to engage and resolve the issue but he refused to cooperate and continued to breach his tenancy by causing nuisance and disturbing those who lived nearby. The tenant, who has not been named, was known to Merseyside Police who worked with Riverside to secure two closure orders on the property, leading ultimately to the repossession order when he refused to change his behaviour.

Riverside along with the police and some residents were at Liverpool County Court last week to gain a repossession order for the property. The court granted re-possession of the property after careful consideration of the case presented by Riverside, backed by the two Police Closure orders and strong support from witnesses.

The judge presiding the case commended the bravery of the witnesses and the fact they have taken time to attend court to strengthen the case. Special measures were used to protect the identity of all the witnesses.

Ruth Richardson, Riverside Community Safety Lead said: “This outcome is testament to excellent joint agency partnerships with the local police and our pledge to communities that we will act on any reports of anti-social behaviour.

We want our tenants and other residents to feel safe within their homes and communities and whilst repossession is always a last resort, we will pursue this course of action when all other methods to deal with this kind of problem fail.”