RESIDENTS of a deprived estate have hit out at their landlord, North British Housing Association, claiming the charity is exploiting its poor tenants.

Beavers Estate householders claim the company is forcing its needy tenants to chose between heating, food and gifts for their children or paying crippling property charges over and above their rents. They allege that service charges have spiralled from £159-a-year in 1995 to £800 this year.

However, a housing association spokeswoman denied this, stating that the charges were £297.44 for a top floor flat and £154.68 for a house in 1995 compared to £453.96 and £258.96 respectively for this coming financial year.

According to resident Mohammed Chaudhray, who contests the figures, tenants can no longer afford the additional costs and are scared the charges will escalate unless they are reviewed by an independent authority.

Mr Chaudhray said: "Beavers Estate has been identified as one of the poorest, most deprived areas in the UK by government funding schemes.

"The majority of people living on this estate survive on low wages or meagre pensions and are being made to suffer service charges that appear to be spiralling at a rate 500 per cent above inflation."

Hounslow Federation of Tenants and Residents' Associations chairman, Alf Chandler, said: "I often get calls from people on the estate who are concerned about the constant rise in service charges and I'm concerned that if they appeal, they could find their service charges are increased even further."

The housing association spokeswoman insisted that, over the past seven years, the average service charge for customers living in a house has risen from between 26p and 34p per week, depending on tenancy type.

"If a resident has a problem we are more than happy to look into the matter," she added.