Tokyo's Toshima Ward has extended 3.8 million yen in loans to a group of residents who are preparing a lawsuit to have members of Aum Shinrikyo evicted from an apartment complex, ward officials said Thursday.

According to the ward, it is rare for a municipal government to offer financial assistance to citizens' groups seeking to keep someone out of their neighborhood.

The issue of Aum members moving en masse into regional townships and cities has become a major concern nationwide over the past months.

"We made the move so that our residents can live in peace," one ward official said.

The citizens' group that received the assistance had been working since July to garner funds to start taking legal action, but, falling short of the required amount, turned to the ward for help.

With the loan, the group is expected to file a lawsuit demanding that the Aum members relinquish their rights to one of the units in the apartment building.

The apartment complex in question is a six-story structure along a shopping street about five minutes by train from JR Ikebukuro Station.

Aum members have rented the first-floor section of the apartment in the name of one of its affiliate companies, and people with links to the cult have been living there since last August.

According to public security officials, the cult's followers held a seminar at the site earlier this month.