Walsoken family fear Christmas eviction from home after letter demanded Boxing Day departure

Emma Brock, her two children and pensioner mum Pam Melton have been served an eviction notice from Sanctuary Housing ordering them to leave their Walsoken home by December 26.

But a spokesman for the housing association, Sanctuary Housing, has now said they would be given a reprieve until the new year.

Mrs Brock received the eviction notice last month, with the reasons for eviction being given as excessive noise and violence – the latter of which she strongly denies.

“Talk about no room at the inn at Christmas,” she said.

“The eviction notice runs out on Boxing Day. How inhuman can anyone be?”

Mrs Brock, 47, moved into the home in Chapnall Close, Walsoken, with her daughter Samanatha, 17, and son Richard, 14, in February.

Her 75-year-old mum moved in shortly afterwards with her two Yorkshire Teriers to help around the house as Mrs Brock suffers with hip pain and is due to undergo a hip replacement operation in the new year.

“I accept it can be noisy, like many homes with two teenagers and dogs, but claims of violence are completely untrue,” she said.

Mrs Melton added: “Being evicted is bad enough, but evicting us on Boxing Day is quite another.”

The mum and daughter say they have approached West Norfolk Council, social services and Citizens’ Advice for help, but to no avail.

The only suggestion given to them so far is to go into temporary bed-and-breakfast accommodation, but Mrs Brock feared her children would be taken into care after a week.

A spokesman for Sanctuary Housing said: “The date shown on the notice is not the final date that the family will be required to leave the property by and they will be able to stay until the New Year.

“We will work with them to ensure that at that point family members are able to access other suitable accommodation.”