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A warrant demanding reality TV contestant Mark Byron pays £1,414 he allegedly owes his former landlord has been sent to the Big Brother house.

Mr Byron is being chased by the courts over claims he did not pay his rent to David Dowle, who owned the flat.

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 told the Liverpool Echo: “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 Mr Byron, 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.”