Flustered and looking slightly bewildered, a familiar mop of black hair arrived at the Sweets Way sleepover tonight.

Outspoken comedian and actor Russell Brand was the star guest at a protest at the housing estate in Whetstone, where families were evicted last month to make way for new homes.

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Crowds gathered in their hundreds at the former army estate to show solidarity with former tenants and those facing eviction later this month, who fear they will be made homeless.

There was a festival-like atmosphere as people arrived with sleeping bags, pillows and tents, and gathered round the campfire singing, while children sang karaoke.

Mr Brand, who has brought widespread attention to their cause, was greeted by a mob of excited children as he entered the housing estate.

He said: “We’ve got an opportunity for housing, and work, and to defend people who are vulnerable to stop the break-up of community assets like health, and to stop the break-up of jobs.”

An ice-cream van and Hare Krishna singers provided entertainment, surrounded by posters proclaiming “we want our homes back” and “we love council housing”.

Dilem Kurt was evicted with her ten-year-old brother and parents last month.

They spent a week living with her uncle and moved into emergency accommodation in Enfield – but will have to leave on April 1.

She said: “We are going to be made homeless again. Everyone is really stressed. It’s a very difficult situation for everyone in the family. It’s like a nightmare.

“It takes my brother two hours to get by public transport to school in Mill Hill. He should be revising for his SATs. Instead he’s here at a protest. He gets really stressed, it's affecting his health.

"As a community we don’t know what is going to happen next. They are not listening to us.

“People are becoming homeless and are being kicked out of the borough.”

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The houses are owned by Annington, who say the estate has been earmarked for demolition for some time and tenants were given ample notice to leave.

But many families have been moved out of the borough and away from their families, friends, work and children’s schools.

Anna Kasperek, who has lived in Sweets Way for five and a half years with her two children, faces eviction later this month.

She said: “It’s not even about the estate, it’s also about what is going on around London. People are being forced out because greedy landlords are charging overpriced rent.”

Squatters occupied a home on the estate last week to prove that they are still in a good enough condition for people to live in.

Housing activist Liam Barrington-Bush said: “People throughout the housing activist community didn’t quite realise this was going on until it was in full force.

“As devastating as what people are going through, it’s also been equally inspiring to see what people have done in terms of coming together.

“I think this kind of action is necessary given the scale of the housing crisis in London and the way it’s affecting people’s lives.

“We have seen over and over again that both councils and developers seem to have so little interest in actually thinking about the human need of housing.

“The demands that have come from the community are that Sweets Way should not be bulldozed to make way for unaffordable homes.

“Stop the demolition, stop the evictions and in one form or another open these homes up again and make them affordable.”

Rami Shah, of Whetstone, said: “I cannot believe in this day and age this is how we are treating people. They have had plenty of time to rehouse people.

“What shocks me most being a mum of young kids was seeing videos of children saying how many times they have had to change schools. Children need continuity and constant movement will have a long term impact.

“The condition of the houses seem absolutely fine to me. People are happy to live here.”

Last week, Annington said in a statement: “Annington Property Limited became aware on Sunday, March 8 that a property it owned at 60 Sweets Way, Whetstone, had been illegally occupied by squatters. Annington has commenced court proceedings to obtain a possession order so that it can evict the squatters and take back possession of the property‎.‎

"These properties have long been earmarked for demolition and Annington advised tenants of this back in 2012. Since then Annington wrote again to tenants in July of last year to ensure that they were all aware of the need to vacate the properties in January 2015.”

Tents have been pitched and people are expected to spend the night on the estate.