Housing chiefs have overspent by nearly £337,000 on repairs to York council homes in the past year.

The cash is on top of £3,506,600 City of York Council had earmarked for keeping its housing stock in good condition.

Evicted tenants or those who abandoned their damaged homes were responsible for much of the expense, councillors will be told.

And many are now untraceable after failing to leave forwarding addresses, forcing city taxpayers to pick up the bill.

Worst was Etty Avenue, which had £67,000 spent on renovations after a joint initiative by the council and police to rid it of its reputation as "hell on earth."

It was given the title by residents last year after being targeted by gangs of youths whose victimisation forced ten families out of their homes.

Following a crackdown on problem families in the street, which involved evictions, the council found many homes badly-damaged.

"In most cases, these homes had been tenanted by customers who had been evicted or who had abandoned their homes," said John Hocking, the council's assistant director of housing services.

"In such cases, the cost of rectifying deliberate damage will be recharged to the customer, although in many cases they will have left without a forwarding address, making recovery difficult.

"Excluding the problems in Etty Avenue, there were 30 homes that cost £111,500, an average of £3,700 per home. "

Of last year's overspend, £24,559 was spent on clearing up rubbish and vandalism.

In the past year, 40,871 repairs were undertaken, 367 more than the previous year.

The trend is expected to continue, with overspending of £305,630 anticipated this year.

The council's approvals social services committee will be asked to approve an increase in the housing repair budget of £305,630 when it meets tomorrow.