Boat family approach PM for help

Vince and Marie Shalom and their children were evicted five years ago

A family is to ask the prime minister for help in their battle for justice over their eviction from their former houseboat home.

The Shaloms were evicted from the boat in Penarth Marina in south Wales five years ago after a court action found it was unsafe and uninsured.

They now live on the land but want some compensation for their lost houseboat.

They want Gordon Brown to back their cause and will deliver a personal appeal to him at Number 10 on Tuesday.

Vince and Marie Shalom and their five children were ordered to leave the boat they had called home for seven years on 28 October 2003.

The family now live in rented accommodation in Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan but have not given up their fight for compensation over losing their former floating home.

In a bid to find support for their cause they plan to deliver a personal petition to Mr Brown at Downing Street.

"We now live in rented accommodation which costs at least three times more than our old houseboat," said Mr Shalom. "We're hoping the prime minister will support our case for compensation.

"We haven't got a particular figure in mind as first of all we just want to have the chance to explain our case to someone so they can see and understand what we have had to go through these past few years."

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