Community Gateway Association (CGA) instructed the court bailiff to execute a warrant of eviction against one of its tenants at City Court, Percy Street, Preston last week.

The eviction was carried out on Monday 26 April 2021, with the assistance of Preston Police.

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It resulted in the removal of three people from the property.

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Community Gateway, Preston’s largest social housing landlord, took the decision to start legal proceedings in March last year, after discovering that the apartment was being used for the use and supply of Class A drugs.

Leading up to the court action, several serious violent incidents occurred at 1, City Court and CGA believes the people living there posed a serious risk of harm to other residents and Community Gateway staff visiting the area.

To provide immediate and ongoing protection whilst waiting for the court hearing, Community Gateway obtained a civil Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction against Carrie Kirkham and her associates who lived at the address.

Graham Dunkley, Tenancy Enforcement Manager at CGA said: “Due to Covid-19 restrictions the UK Government placed a moratorium on all evictions which prevented us from taking the matter before the courts.

“The delay unfortunately allowed the tenant to continue to use the property for illegal and immoral purposes.

“We continued to support a number of tenants living in and around the complex whist awaiting the re-opening of the courts and engaged the services of dedicated on-site security. We also supported Preston Police to obtain a closure order at the address.

“We would like to thank the local community who supported us to obtain this eviction. Many were significantly impacted over a long period and shared that they felt their lives had been turned upside down and that they were scared to let their children play out or for their families to visit.

“At Community Gateway, we take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social behaviour and we will not hesitate to act against persistent offenders like these.”

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Community Gateway took over the complex in 2018 from another landlord; the evicted tenant was already living there at this time.

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