A MAN has said he is outraged after his elderly mother was forcibly removed from a housing body's offices for staging a sit-in protest.


Meryem Kilic, 74, was ejected from the headquarters of Ascham Homes in Fulbourne Road, Walthamstow, after staff turned down her request to be rehoused from her council flat.


Her son Ibrahim Kilic, 42, who lives in the property with her, was escorted from the building but Mrs Kilic refused to budge.


He claims more than a dozen police officers then came to remove her and he was so worried about the way she had been treated that he called an ambulance, which subsequently took her to Whipps Cross Hospital.
 

A doctor's report, shown to the Guardian by the family, said she was suffering from aches and pains later that day, but was not otherwise injured.


Mr Kilic said they had wanted to be rehoused from their home in Morley Road, Leyton, ever since an attempted burglary in September had left his mother deeply shaken.


Mrs Kilic, who cannot speak English, was alone when a man smashed through a back door.


When the intruder saw Mrs Kilic he ran off but she was so shocked she fell over, and felt unable to call police because of the language barrier.


Mr Kilic said: "My mother is living in fear and can't stay in the house. For weeks Ascham Homes kept coming up with excuses and said they would let us know but then they said she had to stay."


"It's disgusting the way they treated her.


"She was angry but she did nothing to deserve [to be removed] like that.”


A spokeswoman for Ascham Homes said Mrs Kilic was aggressive during the incident, which happened at around 6pm on Wednesday October 24.
 

She added: “As the property had been made safe [after the break-in], Mr Kilic was informed that he did not have grounds to be rehoused.


“Having explained our position many times, and having confirmed that his home was safe to return to, [they] refused to leave our offices...


“We had no alternative but to call the police”.
 

Mr Kilic said: "My conduct there was a result of the desperate situation I find myself and my mother in. I cannot accept that she will be left to live in fear".


A Met spokesman would not say how many officers attended the scene.


He added: “Police attended and removed them from the premises. No further action was taken.”


A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service confirmed they took a woman to hospital.