Protesters have managed to block bailiffs from evicting a couple who had been handed a Section 21 notice.

About 50 members of London Renters Union took part in a stand-off with bailiffs and police at the couple’s home in Ilford for more than seven hours.

They picketed multiple entrances to their block of flats in east London and say the successful protest has bought vital time to appeal against their eviction, reports The Morning Star.

Zubaida and her husband, who is disabled, say they have never missed a rent payment and only found out about the planned eviction two weeks ago.

He recently developed a serious infection but has been unable to rest due to the stress of facing homelessness, she explained.

The couple were caught in legal limbo after their landlord cut ties with the intermediary agency they rented from, leaving them unprotected, according to the tenants’ union.

Zubaida described their landlord’s action as “completely unfair,” adding: “This eviction has had an enormous impact on me and my husband’s physical and mental health.”

The union has called for urgent Government intervention on high rents and warns that landlords will continue to force tenants out even after no-fault evictions are banned.

At the end of last year, it staged a protest in central London when hundreds of tenants called for the Government to introduce rent controls.

It told the BBC: “Rent control can take the pressure off renters right now while we continue to push for the public homes we need and deserve.”

LandlordZONE has contacted London Renters Union for a comment.