A couple and their eight children have been evicted from their rented home after the property owner failed to pay the mortgage.

Richard and Yvonne Orange and their children aged between 23 and five were forced out of their Otley Road house by bailiffs yesterday.

Heated scenes followed as unemployed Richard Orange, 46, accused bailiffs of being heavy handed.

The bailiffs were acting on a County Court repossession order taken out by Alliance & Leicester against mortgage holders the Qureshis.

They are believed to live in Scotland and have failed to keep up with the mortgage payments.

Mr Orange, pictured with his wife and two of his children, said: "We've got nowhere else to go. What are we going to do? We're going to have to live on the street. I think we've been treated disgustingly.

"Out youngest, Jonathan, is only five, you can't kick a five-year-old out into the street.

"We've lived her for four-and-a-half-years, paying £80 a week, but our landlady hasn't been paying the mortgage - that's not our fault.

"Bradford Council has offered us a three-bedroom flat but there's no way we could fit ten of us in there."

Mr Orange, who cares for his epileptic wife Yvonne, said he had been forced to leave possessions, including furniture and pet parrots, until alternative arrangements can be made.

Alliance & Leicester spokesman Geoff Seymour said the Oranges had been given plenty of warning about the repossession order.

He said: "This is a repossession because of defaulting on payments by our clients the Qureshis.

"We had spoken to the Orange's solicitors at the end of March and they were given plenty of notice. The repossession was originally going to take place on April 2, but that was put back to give them time to find elsewhere to live.

"We always regret any repossession, it is never a good experience, but we go through the proper processes and give as much warning as possible."

Eldest son of Mr and Mrs Orange, Steven, 23, said despite repeated attempts they had not been able to find a landlord with a house big enough for the family and willing to take rent payments from the DSS.

Bradford Council director of housing Geraldine Howley said the Council had offered the Oranges a five bedroom property when they first received an eviction notice and a three bedroom flat yesterday as a temporary measure.

Steven Orange admitted that the offers had been made, but said that when the first was offered the family were waiting to hear about an application on another home. The application fell through and by then the house had been reallocated.

Staff at D&N Estates in Godwin Street, Bradford, which managed the property on behalf of the Qureshi family, were unwilling to comment.