THE Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman on City of York Council is facing eviction by the authority.

Coun Lynn Jeffries has been taken to York County Court in a dispute over whether she should be allowed to stay in temporary accommodation provided by the authority last year.

The authority is understood to have secured an order allowing it to repossess the council-owned flat she currently occupies.

Coun Jeffries said in a statement that, since she had left hospital last November after being in a diabetic coma, she had been living in temporary accommodation while the council resolved an ongoing dispute regarding her housing status and the support she was entitled to.

“Unfortunately, under the council’s procedure, this has resulted in a case being heard before an amicable solution is found.”

Sally Burns, the council’s director of communities and neighbourhoods, said she could not comment on specific cases but said housing procedures were applied in a consistent way.

“The only factors that determine how decisions are made are those incorporated in the council’s housing policy,” she said.

“In cases where we cannot directly house individuals or families, we will continue to support them to resolve their accommodation needs.”

Coun Jeffries was elected as a Labour councillor for Westfield in 2011 but resigned from the ruling Labour group last August, saying she was disillusioned with the way it was running the city.

She became an independent but joined the Liberal Democrat group last month, and speaks for it on housing and equalities issues.