Winchester tenants are demanding compensation because they say the council took too long to evict their "neighbour from hell".

Residents in flats in Firmstone Road, Winnall, say they should not have had to pay full rent to Winchester City Council while Carol Reynolds was living at number 109. The 18-year-old was staying in the flat with her son, even though the legal tenant, her partner, David Rolfe, was in prison.

Miss Reynolds was forced to hand over the keys to the flat this week after the council was granted a possession order. But residents say the eviction was too long in coming.

David Jackson (35), who lives in the block, said: "The council has taken a long time to deal with this and none of us see why we should have paid full rent while it was going on."

He said he was kept awake by thumping music and neighbours were repeatedly verbally abused by people at 109.

He added that a group of about five residents were seeking compensation. "We were waiting until she was out, but now we will speak again to the council," he said.

A council spokesman denied there was any delay in evicting the tenant. "This was a fairly complex case because the technical tenant was in prison," he said.

"What we try to do is initiate good practice. We attempted to help the resident manage the tenancy first and Miss Reynolds signed an acceptable behaviour contract. Judges are reluctant to award possession orders, so getting an outright order reflects the time we put into the case."

He said no compensation claim had been lodged with the council, but the residents would have to prove maladministration before being awarded any money.

It is not known where Miss Reynolds and her two-year-old son are living now, but it is understood she has family in Oxford. Winchester City Council says she has not been rehoused in council accommodation.

This week's eviction came only two months after the council was granted a possession order for 19-year-old Lee Thompson, who lived in Riverside House, Water Lane.