Dozens of tenants of a Bradford housing association could find themselves out in the cold over Christmas as it clamps down on rent arrears.

To tackle the problem of rent arrears, Brunel Housing plans to take 39 of its tenants to court.

The association's campaign aims to highlight increased services and procedures for tenants who have genuine reasons for falling behind with the rent.

However, for persistent offenders Brunel Housing, which manages more than 2,700 homes from its Bradford office, intends to take tougher action - including eviction.

Nadhia Hussain, its area manager, said: "Many believe that we will not evict individuals who do not pay their rent - this is a myth that we are dispelling more and more."

Since April more than a dozen tenants have been evicted from Brunel Homes - owing more than £20,000.

Mrs Hussain said: "We work closely with tenants when they are experiencing problems in paying their rent and this year alone our Community Initiative Advisors have helped our tenants gain access to more than £96,000 of benefits to help alleviate their financial difficulties.

"However, we cannot continue to allow other customers who do pay their rent to subsidise customers who persistently fail to make rent payments."