Drug dealers could be evicted from council homes

Feb 11 2010 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

WEST Lothian Council are taking steps to evict convicted drug dealers from their council homes.

Already six homes, which were rented to dealers targeted in police raids, have been recovered by housing officials after being abandoned.

The council houses were raided as part of Operation Focus — a joint initiative involving the police, the procurator fiscal’s office, West Lothian Council and NHS Lothian, in a bid to sweep drug dealers off the streets of West Lothian.

In December last year it was revealed the operation, which was launched in April, has so far led to 41 drug dealers being jailed for a total of 26 years.

And now council leader Peter Johnston has warned dealers that there are no hiding places for them in West Lothian.

He told the Courier the council would pursue eviction notices against some of the individuals involved and try to ban them permanently from holding a council tenancy.

Councillor Johnston said: “We are very keen that the council’s message to the people of West Lothian is quite clear – that if you are a tenant who deals drugs or allow your home to be used for drug dealing then the council will use every power it has to remove you from your tenancy. There is no place for drug dealers in West Lothian and we will pursue them within the limits of the law.”

A West Lothian Council spokesman said: “We have not evicted any tenants convicted of drugs offences as a result of last year’s Operation Focus raids as yet. However, a number of cases are with our Legal Services team.

“We have also recovered six properties through the abandonment procedure, where tenants arrested during Operation Focus have left their property.”