Volunteers behind a soup kitchen have had court papers issued seeking a judicial review into Waltham Forest Council’s threat to evict them.

The Christian Kitchen group has served hot meals to the borough’s homeless and destitute at its Mission Grove car park in Walthamstow every night for the last 20 years.

But the council has ordered the group to leave, saying the soup kitchen attracts anti-social behaviour and crime, a claim volunteers deny.

The authority has suggested the kitchen is moved to a lay-by next to the Chingford Holiday Inn but volunteers are now seeking a judicial review to question the legality of the eviction order, claiming the council has not properly assessed the impact of the move on the homeless.

Soup kitchen volunteer Paul Dowling said: “We’ve been left no choice. It’s a vital service but if we move it’ll close us down. Our users don’t have the money to reach us out there. They will suffer badly.

He also accused the authority of ‘social cleansing’, which it denies.

He said: “They want a new look Walthamstow which means they don’t want homeless and poor people on display. It’s as awful as that.”

Waltham Forest police have been unable to provide any statistics of crimes allegedly linked to the soup kitchen, but the council says officers had identified 15 soup kitchen users with 58 arrests attributed to them since June 2012.

Saulius Salyga,33, of no fixed abode, was a soup kitchen user jailed for six years following a sexual assault near the soup kitchen last December, while the council claims two men recently given ASBOs preventing them from entering Walthamstow High Street used the kitchen.

But Mr Dowling said these were isolated incidents, and called for more police action to ensure these people did not cause harm to the vulnerable people they support.

Meanwhile Liberal Democrat leader Bob Sullivan said a high street survey conducted by his party found not one person against the soup kitchen’s presence.

He added: "It is crazy. This is a heartless act by this Labour council that is clearly not supported by local people.”

Lawyers Irwin Mitchell said it has sought the review as a matter of urgency, while the council has allowed the soup kitchen to remain until the legal action is concluded.

The Guardian has approached the council for comment.