A YORK neighbour from hell whose dog twice bit council officers as they attempted to serve an eviction order, has narrowly avoided being thrown out of her home.

Mother-of-two Karen Warwick, was told at York County Court yesterday that she could keep her council home in Stuart Road, Acomb, but that any further nuisance behaviour this year could see her evicted.

Last week, city magistrates ordered her to keep the family's Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Roly, muzzled when outside the back garden after it bit two council workers on separate occasions in June.

At York County Court, Judge Grenfell said antisocial behaviour had "continued unabated" at Ms Warwick's home, despite the June eviction notice and several warnings.

He said there was "real doubt" over whether Ms Warwick has the power to control her two children, a girl aged 13 and a boy aged ten.

He added: "I have decided that the interests of the neighbours will be served if this family has the threat of immediate eviction hanging over them.

"Hopefully it will bring them to their senses that failure will mean immediate re-housing."

The judge said any breach of tenancy rules should be brought back before him and he would consider eviction. But he said the council would still have a legal obligation to house the family elsewhere.

Speaking after the case Ms Warwick, who has lived in the street for ten years, said some neighbours had complained about "minor things" involving her children like ball games and stone throwing.

She said she had made efforts to control her dog since the attacks and that she needed more help from the council and other authorities to control her family.

A City of York Council spokesperson said the animal health team took action against Ms Warwick under the Dogs Act 1871, which requires owners to keep their dog under proper control.

In 1996, Ms Warwick was fined £550 after Roly chased the former Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Ann Reid, down the street, and ripped her skirt.

Three months earlier, Roly escaped being put down when a jury found Ms Warwick not guilty of owning a dangerous dog in a public place. The dog had bitten a woman's arm in a nearby park.

Updated: 10:31 Thursday, March 25, 2004