LANCASTER City Council has taken a firm stand against the family of a youth on the Ryelands Estate by securing a possession order. The youth has been convicted of violent disorder and having an explosive substance with intent to endanger life. The possession order was served on the family, of Udale Place, Ryelands, Lancaster on December 11. They will now be forced to leave their council home.

The order follows the conviction of one son in June for offences against shopkeeper Mal Hussain. A further ground for the order was that another older son was found guilty of being racially abusive to Mr Hussain in August this year.

The order was made at Lancaster County Court yesterday under new eviction powers recently brought in by the Council to stamp out unruly behaviour on the city's estates.

Cllr Ian Barker, chairman of the Council's Housing Policy Committee, has welcomed the outcome of the case and said: "The council is determined to take strong action against people on its estates who act in an anti-social and racist way. Although court proceedings take a long time, we will see them through. This case shows that we will evict people who indulge in this sort of conduct on our estates. It should serve as a warning to anyone who in future acts in an anti-social way, that they risk eviction, and that the council will press for severe penalties."

The local authority attracted some criticism recently for failing to evict anyone under the new powers. The powers place new council tenants on probation and give the council greater means to evict unruly tenants.

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