Council say letter threatening to evict tenants who feed pigeons was 'delivered in error'

Town hall officials apparently threatened to evict council tenants because they had been feeding pigeons. But Islington council in north London claims the note was delivered around the Palmer estate “in error”, and has launched an investigation into its “clearly inappropriate” content. The menacing letter, purporting to be from “quality assurance officer” Gassimu Jah, is littered with grammatical errors and orders residents to stop fedding [sic] pigeons due to a build-up of excrement.



It reads: “Islington are not prepared to allow this kind of behaviour and will take steps to enforce the conditions of tenancy and covenant which may [sic] severe consequences including court action and could lead to injunction or the loss of your home. Islington council have appointed a ‘professional witness’ to obtain video and hear say evidence to identify the culprits of this behaviour. No further warnings will be given regarding this issue.”



But after being approached, a council spokesman said: “This letter was sent out in error and is clearly inappropriate. We are looking into how it went out and apologise for any upset. We would only ever use a professional witness in instances where we believe serious crimes are happening or suspected, which is clearly not the case here.” Ryan Ross, who lives in the area, said: “It seems strange it would say that they were delivered in error. They were hand delivered on Tuesday – I think the council is backtracking.”



The 28-year-old added: “The council has delivered letters like this before, with a similar tone. It had a go at me once for not using a parking permit properly. I never feed pigeons myself, so I didn’t feel particularly threatened by the letter. To be honest, I’ve never even noticed any pigeons around here. What struck me most was the threat of spying. The people who feed pigeons tend to be elderly, so if this was real, it was targeted at them. Either way, it’s not something that makes you feel welcome.”