PEACE has returned to a Suffolk street today after a neighbour from hell was evicted.Former squatter Rachel Morley was made to leave her Stowmarket council home by bailiffs and police officers after a residents' campaign to oust her finally came to a head.

PEACE has returned to a Suffolk street today after a neighbour from hell was evicted.

Former squatter Rachel Morley was made to leave her Stowmarket council home by bailiffs and police officers after a residents' campaign to oust her finally came to a head.

Seven police officers and a police dog were on hand to help carry out the eviction and neighbours broke open champagne in the street in celebration that their year-long “nightmare” appeared to be at an end.

They said they had been subjected to a year of loud music, parties, vandalism and fighting going on at the house in Kingsmead Road.

Mid Suffolk District Council, which has now supplied Ms Morley with information about homeless shelters, took action yesterday after receiving a petition signed by 64 residents in Kingsmead Road, Wolsey Road, Silverdale Avenue, Kipling Way, Spencer Way and St Edmunds Road calling for urgent measures to stop the disturbance.

It is believed Ms Morley, a former squatter who had gained the council house as the sole tenant, had been unable to leave her former friends behind her and they had wanted to squat at her home.

Yesterday, there was broken glass at the property, rubbish strewn about the site, cutlery and a plate in the garden, and a board over one window which read “Rachel's Mental Institute”.

Ms Morley, who is aged in her mid 30s, declined to comment yesterday, but residents claimed she had made their lives a nightmare.

Neighbours have been completing nuisance logs recording her behaviour for the authorities in a bid to get her out.

Naomi Hislop, who works in sales and lives in the other half of the semi-detached property adjoining Ms Morley's old home, said the ordeal had moved her to tears.

She said: “I would lie there crying some nights and would have to be up at 6.30am to go to work.

“There would be music, banging, they wrecked the house, took carpets up so the noise echoed around.”

Amanda Ruck, a housewife and near neighbour who is married to Trevor, claimed that their lives had been made hell. She said: “This has caused a lot of stress and I have had to see the doctor about it, it's got us all down.

“We just could not sleep. But Mid Suffolk District Council have been helpful - brilliant.”

Andrew Weavers, council housing officer, said: “Mid Suffolk District Council will not tolerate anti-social behaviour in any form and will work in partnership with other agencies in order to make the district a safer place to live.

“The residents of Kingsmead Road and the surrounding area have been the victims of anti-social behaviour caused by the tenant of 31 Kingsmead Road and visitors to the property during the last year. “Residents have had to put up with noise, aggressive and drunken behaviour and acts of vandalism. The council has worked in partnership with the local residents, the police and other agencies to solve this situation.”

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