TWO makeshift Ealing council estates, composed of shipping containers, which are to be cleared, has prompted a political clash.

Residents of Meath Court, Acton, and Marston Court in Hanwell say they are unsafe and prone to drug dealers, theft and people using them as toilets.

The containers host families living in cramped conditions, reportedly ridden with cockroaches and mould.

Ealing Council has already started relocating residents to safer accommodation but this may not be completed till early next year.

The opposition Liberal Democrats say Meath Court was intended to be a temporary housing solution when it was first built more than a decade ago under Labour control.

They are unhappy that residents have not been allowed to share their experiences at an extraordinary council meeting on December 19.

Lib Dem leader Cllr Gary Malcolm said: “[We] are appalled Labour are not prioritising the opportunity for residents to speak but are leaving them in a squalid situation.

“Those who are suffering are not being listened to, so lessons are not being learned. Shocking.”

A Labour spokesperson responded: "The council is therefore in constant contact with residents.

"We are not aware any wanted to speak at the extraordinary meeting, which was cynically called by the Liberal Democrats, in order to ask us to do something we were already doing.

“If the Liberal Democrats have received such a request, they have not passed it on, as they should have done.”

The units at Meath and Marston courts were originally procured to reduce reliance on costly bed and breakfast accommodation.