An OAP facing eviction after a long-running dispute with Gateshead Council says he is now afraid to step outside his front door.
Ken May could be removed from the Wardley council house he has lived in since he was a baby, amid a row over his refusal to allow officials to inspect the property. The 69-year-old was given a reprieve last week, when a judge suspended an eviction warrant against him.
Mr May did not attend that hearing at Gateshead County Court and has now told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that his years-long battle with the council has left him suffering severe anxiety over leaving his home in Standfield Gardens, where he has lived since 1955, fearing the local authority could try to repossess it if he isn't there. Council bosses have threatened the former merchant seaman with eviction multiple times since 2019, saying he had interfered with the home’s electricity supply and allowed it to fall into a poor and dangerous condition.
