Families living in a crime-ridden tower block are rejoicing as troublesome neighbours have been evicted by the housing association.

Living in the Elizabeth Tower, in Baxter Avenue, Southend, has been hellish over the past year, according to its tenants, having been over-run with homeless people and drug dealers.

Residents complained to the housing association about the constant flow of visitors and the shouting from outside the flats on many occasions.

Ann Corbin, 67, who lives in the tower block, said: “They had a non-stop stream of visitors, there must have been a few hundred people involved. When I challenged them they always said that they were staying in a particular flat.

“What a load of rubbish, they can’t fit that many people inside. They got what they came for and were up to no good in the hallways.”

A Genesis Housing Association spokesman said: “An eviction took place recently at Elizabeth Tower owing to a breach of tenancy.

“We are in regular contact with residents about progress on our improvement plan.”

The eviction came two weeks after Genesis announced a merger with Notting Hill Housing Association.

The new organisation will be the largest provider of shared ownership tenure in the country, serving a total of 170,000 residents under the name Notting Hill Genesis.

Members of the organisation hope that the merger will mean improvements for residents - however tenants are against the plans.

Neil Hadden, Genesis chief executive, said: “I have always believed that there should be more consolidation within the sector so that our capacity can be utilised better to provide more homes and improved services for our customers.”

Ms Corbin said: “We’ve got until the third week of September to reject it.

“The whole thing as a terrible idea, it applies rent increases for secure tenants. We’ve already had rent increases, they keep buying properties to sell and they’re forgetting about us.

“People wont be able to afford that.”

A Genesis Housing spokesman added: “All of our rents are set by a third party assessor and support is available for any resident who struggles with payments.

“We are actively engaging with all our residents on our proposed merger.”