It should not be too much to ask that Ealing Council tenants have a decent home to live in.

But Ealing Homes appears unable to make that a reality, and its disastrous failings have left the borough in a worse state than before the housing organisation was set up.

The council's own investigations into what went wrong are ongoing, and many more shocking revelations may follow about the apparent incompetence of managers who agreed work without signed contracts and allowed maintenance bills to run into the millions, while awarding themselves inflated salaries.

Hopefully the Audit Commission report due in December will help bring those managers to account.

As Ealing Homes attempts to pick up the pieces, those responsible should be ashamed of themselves for letting down the entire borough.

Witness call

TWO road deaths have left two grieving families wondering what happened in the final minutes of their loved ones' lives.

While the knowledge can never bring them back, it must help bring closure and ease the pain.

Whether or not the drivers involved in the deaths of Stuart McPherson and Karol Rzepka are guilty of any crime,this alone shows how important it is for witnesses to come forward.