Flat closed after becoming a magnet for crime and disorder

A flat in Hucknall that had become a magnet for drug-related crime and antisocial behaviour has been closed after police intervention.

Neighbouring residents in Broomhill Road told officers they were repeatedly harassed by local drug users coming and going from the property.

One was woken by an agitated man banging at his door in the middle of the night, while others were harassed and abused in communal areas as drugs were traded.

Police were called on a regular basis and had to force entry to the address on a number of occasions.

Local officers met with residents and gathered enough evidence to secure a temporary closure order.

The order, granted at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, means the address will be left empty for three months and also gives the council grounds to seek mandatory possession. 

Inspector Jon Hewitt, district commander for Ashfield, said:

“This address had become a magnet for crime and antisocial behaviour that was making residents’ lives a misery. When officers met with local residents the kind of things we heard about were utterly unacceptable.

“Nobody should have to live in fear of their neighbours and we simply won’t tolerate this kind of behaviour. This adds to a growing list of other closure orders that have been put in place across the whole of the district and will now allow the council to seek mandatory possession of the property.

“I hope this serves as a warning to others about what could happen to them if they behave in a similar way to their neighbours.”