In two weeks time 3,500 council house tenants throughout Teignbridge will vote on whether to leave council control.

Ron Stride claims that no one has put the case for staying with the council, and says he wants to change that.

Mr Stride, who is 77, has been a council tenant in Teignbridge for 45 years.

Any surplus money it does make has to be poured back into the housing services George Harding, Tenants' Forum

"I have got no moans about the council," said Mr Stride.

"But I still say it's back door privatisation, and I don't trust privatisation because eventually it's driven by profit."

In the last few months the council has been trying to explain the issues to tenants and around 80 consultative meetings have already been held.

The Tenants' Forum is impartial on the matter and its chairman, George Harding, said the new housing association would not be a private company in the normal sense.

"It's neither one thing or the other," said Mr Harding.

"Although it operates in the private sector it's still a registered social landlord, it doesn't make a profit.

"Any surplus money it does make has to be poured back into the housing services."

Two weeks

But Ron Stride feels that the argument for staying with the council has not been made and he has organised a meeting for Kingsteignton council tenants to, as he puts it, "put the arguments for a no vote".

The meeting takes place on Friday at the community centre in Rydons Road in Kingsteignton at 1900 GMT.