MMU evicts people from The Ark homeless shelter

Rough sleepers at The Ark homeless shelter on Oxford Road are being evicted by MMU this morning.

It is the second time bailiffs have been to the camp on Oxford Road in the past month.

University bosses were granted a possession order for the land that around a dozen people are currently camped on at a court hearing exactly a week ago.

As revealed on The Ark’s blog, new fences were built last Friday.

The most recent post, just yesterday revealed: “We still don’t know when we are being evicted.”

The next morning at 9am, there were reports of those at The Ark being evicted. Shortly after, GMP confirmed one man has been arrested for Breach of Peace as bailiffs continue to clear the land.

Bailiffs got to work by throwing a number of possessions, including sleeping bags and tents, into the back of a truck. They said they will leave items members of The Ark have asked to keep.

Some rough sleepers have moved to the side of MMU’s student union.

One member of The Ark said to M.E.N: “It’s a cat and mouse game chasing us around the city wasting tax payers’ money.”

An hour after this ordeal started at 10am, the truck with people’s tents and possessions was driven away.

Posted on Facebook at 9:50am.

A MMU spokesman said all the possessions that have been taken away by bailiffs will be stored for seven days and can be collected by the owners.

The council are also trying to get some of the homeless people into taxis so they can take them to accommodation at Cornerstones Day Centre.

The land where the shelter was has now been completely fenced off.

Many people are outraged at this eviction, including second-year Jonny who said: “MMU need to back off and realise they’re playing with people’s lives.”

Second-year Lucy also said: “I really fear what will happen next. What will happen to the people who were staying at The Ark? They have nothing now.”

There has been huge online support for The Ark on various social medias and a flurry of online petitions.