Grieving relatives of Mick McGrath have told of their devastation after an eviction notice was posted at the Carshalton flat where he was killed two months ago.

Family members were unable to retrieve photographs and other personal items because the rented building in Shaftsbury Road was being treated as a crime scene.

Kathy McGrath-Jackson, Mick's heartbroken sister, discovered the notice to quit when she passed the building shortly before his funeral last week.

The body of her 50-year-old brother had been found by a neighbour on November 29.

A postmortem examination failed to establish the cause of death but two people have been charged with his murder.

Kathy told the Sutton Guardian: "The council wants Mick to quit the flat. Well, he's quit this life. He's well out of the premises now.

"I can't believe the insensitivity they've shown.We couldn't even remove personal photographs because they were covered in blood.

"If the council wanted the keys returned, they could have asked. It was devastating seeing this just two days before Mick's funeral."

This week Sutton Housing Partnership expressed regret for the upset it had caused to bereaved relatives.

A spokeswoman said the notice had to be served because the flat was let to Mick and his wife as joint tenants.

She added: "It appears that at the time of his death Mr McGrath was living alone and we have been unable to make contact with Mrs McGrath to establish her intentions about the property.

"Where there is a joint tenancy it is necessary, by law, to serve a legal notice to end the tenancy in such circumstances.

"We regret any distress that this may have caused the family, and we very much hope to resolve the situation shortly."

Ryan Matthew Parker-Saunders, 23 of Thurlby Road, West Norwood, and Chou Wei Leong, 21, of Acacia Road, Haringey, have been charged with murder and are due to appear at the Old Bailey on March 28.