The final residents of two shipping container estates branded ‘the worst place to live in Britain’ have been given eviction notices which will see them kicked out in days.
They are in ‘total limbo’ and claim they could be left on the streets soon because of a lack of action from the council.
Ealing Council in west London is decommissioning two shipping container estates, Meath Court and Marston Court.
Locals compared living there to being in a ‘third world cesspit’ and said it was rife with serious crime, major hygiene issues and feared being murdered waiting for a new home.
They hoped to have been gone by the end of last year, but only in the last few weeks have most started to leave the two estates.
Families living in the rusting shipping container homes of the Meath Estate in Acton (pictured) have called it a ‘third world cesspit’
A filthy old mattress and a bedframe lay dumped on the estate residents have called a ‘hell hole’
A broken window is left boarded up on one of the shipping container flats in west London
The final residents of two shipping container estates branded ‘the worst place to live in Britain’ have been given eviction notices which will see them kicked out in days
Residents say the estate is rife with crime and MailOnline saw a man being arrested when visiting
A man is arrested outside the estate in west London where locals fear for their safety
While most have left, few remain on both estates and have now been hit with eviction notices.
Traumatised families trying to flee the ‘slum’ housing estate made of rusting shipping containers previously branded it the ‘worst place to live in Britain’ and a ‘third world cesspit’.
In December they told MailOnline they were desperate to leave the Meath Court estate in Acton, west London, which they described as a ‘hell hole’.
Labour-led Ealing Council, which covers the area, said it was committed to getting them out but terrified locals said they were scared they could be murdered while they wait for a new home.
One woman told MailOnline: ‘I fear I will die here. This is the worst place to live in Britain. It’s like being in a third world country. I am terrified I will be killed or my children will be killed.’
MailOnline revealed conditions on a similar estate in neighbouring Ealing in August, also run by the council, where tenants were so stressed they ‘wanted to kill themselves’.
Ealing Council said it would be closing Marston Court because it was ‘not fit for purpose’. Meath Court residents – too afraid to be pictured – may have to wait longer.
They reported serious crimes such as attempted murder, sex assaults, violence, prostitution, drug dealing and taking, thefts and robberies taking place every week and said pimps operate ‘every hour of every day’.
Residents claim their post has been stolen out of letter boxes on the estate (pictured)
Residents are in ‘total limbo’ and claim they could be left on the streets soon because of a lack of action from the council
Tenants are forced to live in cramped conditions inside the shipping container homes. Pictured: A bedroom where three children sleep
Meath Court in Acton where residents claim it is ‘the worst place to live in Britain’
One drug dealer – who locals have dubbed the ‘Pablo Escobar of Acton’ – with alleged organised crime links across the country, had been openly dealing cocaine and heroin in the estate, locals said.
Even security guards employed to tackle the crime issues are ‘constantly bullied’ and work in fear of attacks.
Speaking to MailOnline, many said they fear being murdered in Hope Gardens, a cramped estate housing hundreds of people.
Many are vulnerable, domestic abuse victims or have suffered hardship or homelessness.
The estate has 60 shipping container homes and many have families with as many as eight people living in them despite only having two bedrooms.
In many cases three children are living in one bedroom which is just two metres wide by five metres long.
This week, one man who remains in Marston Court said: ‘It is an undignified end to an undignified time of my life having to live here. I have nowhere else to go. It’s disgraceful.
‘The communication has been terrible. I have been given an eviction notice but have nowhere to go. I am not sure what will happen. It’s horrific.
‘But I would rather sleep rough on a park bench than have to put up and deal with Ealing Council again.’
The rusting shipping container homes were built by the council as ’emergency accomodation’ more than a decade ago
They hoped to have been gone by the end of last year, but only in the last few weeks have most started to leave the estates
Tenants claim human excrement is often found around the bins on the estate
One woman, who used to live in Meath Court, but has since been relocated to another flag in south London, said she was ‘traumatised’ from living there.
She said: ‘It was insane that it was ever allowed. How did it come to that?
‘It was appalling. I know the people there have been handed eviction notices. It’s disgusting. They have told me they have not been given any help to move.
‘It’s a subhuman way to treat someone. Especially after having to live there for all of that time.’
An Ealing Council spokesperson told My London: ‘We are obliged by law to serve all the households at Meath and Marston courts with eviction notices as part of the decommissioning process.
‘We have told those being moved into alternative accommodation not to be concerned by those letters and that they will be fully supported in their move to alternative accommodation.
‘Three households will be evicted where we are either ceasing our housing duty towards them or as a result of rent arrears.
‘One of those households includes children and we are working to ensure that our Children’s Act duties are observed.
‘These households have all been updated and advised on the actions they need to take.’
