Warrant sent to Big Brother house over Liverpool star's unpaid rent bill

by Helen Davies

MERSEYSIDE Big Brother contestant Mark Byron is being  chased by the courts over claims  he did not pay his rent at a London  flat.

A warrant demanding the  24-year-old from Crosby pays  £1,414 he allegedly owes his  former landlord David Dowle has  now been sent to the Big Brother  House.

Mr Dowle, a 34-year-old IT  manager, says he ended up in  court himself last year because he  had been left unable to pay his  mortgage after Mr Byron failed to  pay the rent.

He said: “He had my spare  room. He moved in during May  last year.

“I advertised it on a couple of  room rental websites, I’d used  them in the past and never had any  problems with anyone.

“I don’t have someone living  there for the high life, it’s because  it balances the books.”

Mr Dowle, who lives in the  Woolwich flat with his partner,  alleges he has been chasing the  former Chesterfield High School  pupil, who has previously auditioned for X Factor and appeared  on Channel 4’s Shipwrecked, for  the money since last summer and  that it “grated” when he saw him  win a £5,000 reward on the Channel 5 programme.

He said: “I saw he was sat in the  diary room and had won money  and was saying he would use it to  buy a pug dog.”

A spokesman for HM Courts  and Tribunal Service confirmed a  warrant against Mark Byron has  been issued this week for the  claim.

When a warrant for money has  been issued the bailiff will usually  send the debtor a letter saying that  he or she must pay within seven  days.

If the debtor does not pay within  seven days, the bailiff will call at  the address given by the claimant,  in this case the Big Brother House  at Elstree Film and TV Studios in  Hertfordshire.

The bailiff will try to identify  goods which they could sell at  auction or collect a payment to  prevent goods being sold.

This means, in theory, a bailiff  could call at the Big Brother House  to demand Mr Byron pays up.

The HM Courts and Tribunal  Service spokesman said he was  unable to confirm how the issue  would be dealt with in this situation as he could not comment on  individual cases.

A spokesman for Channel 5  said: “We will deal with any legal  procedures as is required.”