A fuming resident in council owned sheltered accommodation is refusing to leave his house until he is evicted.

75-year-old Brian Gould, who has lived in Richmond Green in Beddington North for 12 years, was one of 17 people told they would have to move from the area.

Six of the residents have been relocated to new flats in Elizabeth House in Park Lane, Cheam, with the rest being moved to other locations in the borough.

The council has been relocating the residents as they plan to demolish the existing site to make way for a housing development.

It also claims the Richmond Green bungalows are in poor condition, and it is in the interest of the residents there to be move to more appropriate accommodation. 

Mr Gould is now one of only two residents left at Richmond Green, with his neighbour set to move on soon.

Mr Gould said: "I will never swap this bungalow for a flat in Cheam, I will stay here until they evict me.

"I like living here and do not want to move.

"What the council has done here is awful and is causing really elderly people a lot of stress."

A council spokesperson said: "We have no plans to evict Mr Gould.

"Any redevelopment of the Richmond Green site is a long way down the line.

"We will just have to wait and see how the situation is resolved in the course of time."

The plans to relocate the elderly residents have proved controversial since they were first announced.

Members of the Beddington North Neighbourhood Forum felt the move would pile too much stress on the elderly people, who have become accustomed to their surroundings in Richmond Green.

However after being relocated many residents have said they are much happier in their Cheam-based flats.

Sarah Gwynn, vice chairman of the forum, said: "It is true the new sheltered accommodation is in much better condition, but I cannot see why the council could not wait until some of these people had passed away.

"Many of these people are very old, and the stress is too much for them." 

When the plans were unveiled Sutton Council told the residents they had to be moved because two surveys found the properties were structurally unsound.

The council measured the repair work would cost £1.7m.

Speaking at full council meeting in July last year Coun Jayne McCoy said: "A report in 2012 assessed the full extent of the defects. 17 were assessed as medium to severe, seven of them are severe.

"Far from trying to push people out, we want to provide good quality housing these people deserve."