Boris Johnson appears to have called off the evictions of NHS and school workers from police-owned homes in Merton.

Families living at Raynesfield in Raynes Park cracked open the champagne this evening to celebrate news their evictions have been called off.

Residents feared they could be sleeping on the streets by the end of the week after they were served notice on their social housing.

Nurses and school workers face sleeping on the streets if Boris Johnson doesn't stop their evictions

Natasha Harris, Raynesfield resident and caretaker at Joseph Hood Primary school, said Crown Housing Association (CHA) staff arrived on the estate at 4pm to say the evictions were cancelled.

CHA leases the homes on behalf of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which previously said it planned to sell off the estate and divert funds to frontline policing.

Asked if she had a message for the Mayor of London, Ms Harris said: "I would say thank you to the mayor for putting a stop to it. We want to keep our homes for the future and stay here."

It is not clear if evictions have also been cancelled at police-owned estate 30 Griffiths Road in south Wimbledon, where evictions began last week.

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Councillor Andrew Judge, who started a petition to stop the evictions, said: "It's very positive. Now we need to make sure they have homes in the long term. I do think the mayor has a moral responsibility."

Paul Yates, chief executive of Crown Simmons, (formerly Crown Housing), said: "We were contacted late on Tuesday by the Metropolitan Police and asked to cancel the evictions planned for this week and next week at Raynesfield.

"I understand that the Metropolitan Police are currently reviewing the position regarding their residential portfolio and until their review is complete, they have asked us to put a hold on any further legal action."

MOPAC has yet to comment.