HOUSING chiefs have evicted a 76-year-old woman from her Southampton flat claiming that her personal possessions were a health and safety hazard.

Thelma Woodroff, who has mobility problems and is due to have scans for suspected bladder cancer, was removed from her home yesterday.

Two police officers, two Southampton city council workers and two tradesmen from Radian were at the scene.

Mrs Woodroff left the building in a mobility scooter and was helped into a taxi, saying: “I don’t know where I’m going to go.”

Radian said it had given Mrs Woodroff enough time to address the issues which were having an impact on her neighbours.

Yet neighbours contacted by the Daily Echo yesterday said Mrs Woodroff had been no trouble.

She said: “The company wanted me to get rid of some things.

“I am disabled and if things are hidden away and I need them quickly it makes them harder to find.

“I will put some of the items into storage and the rest I was going to send to auction.

“I would have liked to have had a couple more weeks to sort things out so one lot of items can go in storage and the other I wanted it to go to auction.

“I don’t think it is a fire hazard because I am very careful and I have common sense.”

She added that the Radian Group, a housing association based in Eastleigh with 21,000 homes across the south and a turnover in excess of £137million, had tried to send an electrician to do some work in the property but that he was unable to access sockets in the flat.

Daily Echo:

Neighbour Blake Smith who shares a flat with his girlfriend in the same block as Ms Woodroff, said: “I’ve lived here for nearly two years and it’s generally fairly peaceful. The only weird thing is that the flat on the corner had a lot of visits from police and a couple of people from the council. I’ve spoken to her briefly but people keep to themselves.”

Another neighbour who works as a nurse but did not want to be named said: “I’ve lived here for six weeks and it’s really quiet. To be honest we’ve had no trouble.”

A Radian spokesman said: “The welfare of our residents is our number one priority at Radian and we have worked hard to support Mrs Woodroff in this situation. We and the court gave Mrs Woodruff a lot of opportunities to address these safety concerns over a long period but sadly she chose not to and despite our efforts, the court has enforced an eviction order which has to be observed.

“Mrs Woodroff’s living conditions have impacted on multiple neighbours as her flat has communal open spaces shared with others living in the building. The level of hoarding in her property amounts to a high health and safety risk to the other residents in the block, including the risk of fire. As the landlord, we have to take this very seriously.”