NEIGHBOURS of a man whose 38 dogs caused a severe noise nuisance have spoken of their relief after he was evicted.

At 8am on Eviction Day, animal lover Roger Sutton left his semi-detached home in Colwell Drive, Witney, after more than 30 years.

He was kicked out by housing association A2 Dominion after neighbours complained about the noise and smell coming from the property.

In March the 62-year-old was fined £2,000 for breaking a noise abatement order.

Neighbours expressed their relief the father-of-four had gone.

One Colwell Drive resident said: “There must have been 10,000 flies in that property with the eggs and the maggots. It’s diabolical.

“All the top floor of my house smelt because of the urine smell coming from the dogs.

“I’m relieved this will stop the smell in my house.”

Another neighbour added: “I can rest easy.

“I’m mightily relieved as in this warmer weather the smell has been horrendous.

“It will be a lot better once the house has been cleaned.”

After leaving his home, Mr Sutton said he was relieved all the dogs, bar six elderly pets that he would keep and three puppies he hoped would be rehomed shortly, had found new homes.

He said: “We ended up not losing any, which was a concern of mine as I thought quite a few would have to be destroyed. I’m really happy they’ve gone to good people who will look after them.”

Mr Sutton and his wife Sandra will stay with relatives around the country until they find somewhere permanent to live.

The grandfather-of-14 said: “I’m hoping to rent somewhere in the middle of nowhere where I can have my dogs and it won’t annoy anyone.

“The last thing I wanted to do was annoy people but the dogs come first with me.

“I haven’t been able to sleep for the past three days with worrying but I think I will tonight. I’ve got no worries now for the first time in ages.”

Mr Sutton has rehomed the majority of the dogs – which he rescued over a number of years – with contacts from his days as a Dorset bulldog breeder.

Mr Sutton asked for an extra 28 days to allow him to move out, but was refused.

A2 Dominion’s area director Laurinda Hornblow said: “When we arrived at the property, we found the residents had already moved out and there were no dogs left in the home.

“The property has been left in an appalling state, with dog excrement throughout.

“Weeks of refurbishment will now be required to bring the home up to standard once again.

“Roger Sutton had been causing a severe nuisance to his neighbours over a period of three years, through keeping almost 40 dogs in his three-bedroom home.

“We received complaints about the dogs barking during the day and night, and about the smell of dog excrement from the house.”