In February 1976 demolition men smashed their way into several Bradford bedsits during a “Gestapo” style dawn raid. The sleeping tenants were evicted whilst their belongings were thrown into the street and smashed during the invasion.

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The 6am swoop followed numerous warnings from Bradford council to the tenants of St John’s Terrace, Wakefield Road, after the property was placed under a compulsory purchase order.

Notices of entry had been handed to the tenants of two flats and pinned on the doors of those who were due to be evicted within the next 14 days.

Enraged at the inhumane way the tenants of St John’s Terrace had been forced to leave their homes several residents erected a series of barricades.

After the heavy-handed raids several Bradford councillors had demanded that a full explanation be given for the way in which the tenants had been made to suffer.

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