Residents of a Harold Hill flat block have been warned against smoking cannabis in corridors.

Tenant managers BETRA sent a letter to Thornbury House, in Montgomery Crescent, saying a CCTV camera may be installed to catch offenders.

The letter, signed by estate manager Caroline Edwards, concluded: “If you want to ‘puff’, don’t get in a huff when you are prosecuted!!”

Tenant advisor William Swain called the letter “outrageous”.

He wrote: “I would have thought that if tenants were going to indulge in illegal activity, they would do so in the privacy of their own homes.

“It is a pretext…so that a spy camera can be installed and inquisitive individuals can pry into their neighbour’s affairs.”

Mr Swain has raised his concerns with local councillors.

But a Thornbury House resident, who did not want to be named, said she hopes the letter will help get rid of nuisance smokers.

She said: “I can always smell it when people smoke weed in the corridors.

“People are working hard to clean it and we don’t want it ruined.”

BETRA declined to comment.