“Some of the people here have been living in no more than what I would describe as kennels,” said a member of the council’s estate safety team who attended the raid and did not want to be named.

The terrible conditions at Horton Road were first discovered by the gas safety team in October 2004 during an inspection, after which the estate safety team was alerted.

The source explained that they found numerous locked doors and evidence that an attic room was being lived in by at least six people when they went to inspect the property.

At that stage the council planning department and the immigration and nationality directorate were contacted.

The source said of the raid: “Although this is not the first occasion I have been involved in [seeing] people being hidden in a house, it is definitely the highest number and I have never seen such overcrowding in such intolerable conditions. I... came into contact with the majority of the occupants of the house, sheds and attic.

“Although the operation was very successful and achieved its aims, I personally was saddened by the obvious human misery caused by the people running this address for illegal purposes.”

Source

Housing Today