Ed Lopes outside Richard Cobden School in Camden Town

PARENTS have signed a petition in support of a caretaker who is facing eviction from a school-keeper’s house.

Ed Lopes has been living with his wife and two children in the three-bedroom house for 10 years while working as “premises manager” at Richard Cobden School in Camden Town.

His children go to the primary school in Camden Street but the school’s headteacher says she has been forced to make him and “several other staff” redundant due to “government cuts”. Mr Lopes is expecting the bailiffs to arrive after the council won an eviction order and gave him one month to leave the property.

Speaking outside the school gates, the 40-year-old said: “I don’t have anywhere to go, or a job. For the last 10 years, everyone knows me around here. I just want to try to at least get a council flat. I don’t want to be homeless, and I have two kids to take care of and myself as well.”

Mr Lopes said his two children are struggling to come to terms with losing the house they have both lived in since birth and the row between school staff and their father. In evidence of the strained relations at the school, a wooden barrier between the house and its entrance has been set up to stop him getting in.

Mr Lopes said his water was switched off on Thursday. He has been living in the property without paying rent and bills but these concessions have been reflected in his school salary. Mr Lopes is one of four Camden school caretakers that the New Journal is aware are facing evictions from caretaker’s cottages.

Richard Cobden School headteacher Kathy Bannon said: “As a result of government cuts to our school’s budget, we’ve had no choice but to implement a restructure that unfortunately has made several staff at all levels, including our premises manager, redundant. This was a difficult time for all concerned and we provided staff with support throughout this process.”

She added: “We are moving forward with a clear focus on supporting our children through our excellent teachers and support staff whilst making the best use of the school’s facilities.”

The school has decided that the Mr Lopes’s house should be brought back into school as “a much-needed additional teaching and learning space”.

But Dennis McNulty, from the GMB union, which is representing Mr Lopes, said the school’s restructuring was designed to get him out of his role and use the house for the school’s gain.

“It is a clear dismissal, knowing they were making him homeless,” he said. “The school is teaching its children about homelessness and ethics and the way to behave, but they are not practising what they preach.”

A council press official said: “We urge anyone in need of housing support, who may feel concerned about their future, to make contact with our homeless prevention service who will provide advice and information about their housing options. Depending on their circumstances, council employees who are provided with accommodation as part of their job can be offered alternative accommodation by the council if they are made redundant.”