SOME council home tenants have become suicidal because of the behaviour of their neighbours – according to Cllr Vikki Slade.

Her comments came after BCP councillors were told that there had been an increase in anti-social behaviour across the area since the start of the pandemic – which had resulted in a few council housing tenants being evicted.

“I’ve got a number of residents who have raised issues where they are suicidal and the responses they get are inadequate.

“We’ve got to do something about the fact that a lot of our residents who are in BCP homes are some of the most vulnerable people who don’t have any other alternative. Some of the anti-social behaviour is because of massive unmet needs, which we have got to find a better way to resolve. Some of these people’s lives are utterly miserable,” she said.

She called for the council to look at anti-social behaviour in a more holistic way in council homes and local communities.

The meeting heard that residents who persistently caused problems were sometimes evicted if a resolution could not be found, although this was usually the last resort as it was recognised that an eviction often resulted in the problem being moved somewhere else.

Councillors were told that often those causing problems were people with difficulties themselves who needed help - which was being offered by the council and its partners.