DILIGENT allotment holders are frustrated that negligent tenants are not being evicted swiftly from their plots because of a council backlog.

In council-owned allotments, gardeners who regularly fail to cultivate their plots are issued with a warning.

If it continues, a final notice to end their tenancy agreement is served.

However, some allotment groups say that the Waltham Forest Council has not been evicting tenants for six months, causing longer waiting lists for plots and spoling the hard work of neighbouring plot-holders.

Green-fingered John Spears, 65, chair of the Waltham Forest Allotment Holders Association for 28 years, has been in discussion with the council about the problem since January and is still awaiting a resolution.

He said: "It is a problem affecting all allotment sites run by the council. We need the council to issue these notices to quit. It can cause a problem because we are now into the summer and if someone isn't working their plot weeds get out of hand and start feeding and causing problems for other plot holders.

"The problem lies with the fact that the council's legal department decided that the existing notices to quit were no longer satisfactory and compatible with legislation."

Mr Spears said the council response to the association was that the issue is, "still in the hands of the legal team".

In the meantime, plot-holders are having to tolerate unkempt plots until tenants are forced to leave. One Chingford plot-holder, who did not want to be named, said that there were two such plots at his allotment.

He said: "We have got plots on ours which people haven't seen for more than a year. We cannot run our sites properly because we cannot evict people. While they are over-grown they go onto other plots which makes our plots hard work. It is frustrating because some of these plots have been going for 100 years or more.

"Also, we have only got one or two people waiting for plots, but some have 20, and could have two to three years waiting."

A Waltham Forest council spokesman said it is reviewing its procedures for evicting tenants, but that the review should not interfere with the management of the sites.

Waltham Forest's cabinet member for leisure, arts and culture, Cllr Geraldine Reardon, said: "We will be fully investigating these allegations and we will take action to ensure that sites are appropriately maintained and that plots that are not in use can be made available to those who want them.

"The inspection and monitoring of allotment sites is an ongoing process and some sites are still pending inspection. These will, of course, be visited in due course."

Residents interested in cultivating an allotment can contact Waltham Forest's Green Space Service on 020 8496 3000 or visit www.walthamforest.gov.uk.