Homes plagued with anti-social behaviour, violence and drug related activity are the bugbear of local communities.
When the problems become so extreme that the authorities are called in, police will join forces with councils or housing associations to apply for a closure order on the offending property.
Following the order all of the windows and doors at the address are boarded up and will remain so for three months. Anyone who enters the address during that time is committing an offence and can be arrested.
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Sometimes it isn’t only houses – shops have also been tinned up after they’ve been found to have been used as a base for criminal activity.
Here we take a look back at the addresses that were made the subject of closure orders in 2021. Where closure orders have expired, it is possible new residents may have moved into the addresses after they were boarded up by authorities, and will have no connection to the previous matters.
Nightmare neighbour who ran ‘drug haven’ flat and made life a misery gets turfed out by police
A flat used as a base for crime and anti-social behaviour was shut down by police in January after making neighbours’ lives a misery.
The full closure order was secured on an address in Birkenhead, and the tenant removed from the flat.
(Image: Merseyside Police)
One neighbour said: “At its height there could be 100 to 120 people going in and out of the flat, at all times of the day and night. You’d think they’d keep it low key so it wouldn’t attract the attention of police, but it’s right in the open.”
The property, Flat 6, 37a The Woodlands, was taken into the possession of the housing association.
House where fights ‘spilled into the street’ boarded up under court order
A rowdy house at the centre of claims of violence and drug dealing in Widnes was closed in February, under a court order following a string of complaints.
Police sought the order due to “persistent antisocial behaviour” at the property, on Bower Street on the outskirts of Widnes town centre.
(Image: cheshirepolice)
Alongside reports of violence that sometimes spilled into the street, the address also had a reputation for drug dealing taking place.
Other issues included groups of people “coming and going at all hours”, a Cheshire police spokesman said.
Birkenhead house tinned up after catalogue of complaints from neighbours
Complaints of persistent anti-social behaviour led to a closure order being put on a house in February.
The address in Cleveland Street, Birkenhead, was tinned up for a period of three months after the closure order was obtained.
(Image: Merseyside Police)
Wirral Police posted on their Facebook page: “Officers have been able to obtain a closure order following numerous complaints from the local community regarding ongoing anti-social behaviour.”
‘Nightmare’ house known for drug taking and arguments
A catalogue of anti-social behaviour led to a house being closed for three months in March.
There were reports of loud music, drug taking, foul and abusive language, littering, drunk and disorderly behaviour and intimidating behaviour stemming from the house in Warrington.
(Image: Cheshire Police)
Police were called to the house in Fallowfield Grove on multiple occasions to deal with anti-social behaviour.
It included groups of people coming and going at all hours, despite the lockdown restrictions then in force.
There were also reports of loud arguments and violent incidents, including ones in the street.
Home boarded up after police become sick of neighbours from hell
Violence, threats and drug dealing led to the closure in March of a house that had become the home of neighbours from hell.
Police stepped in after being repeatedly called to the property due to the behaviour of those linked to it causing “significant alarm”.
(Image: Cheshire Police)
The house has now been boarded up and it will be a crime for anyone to enter it in the next three months.
The Runcorn home in Suffolk Street had become a base for trouble with Cheshire Police receiving complaints ranging from assaults to drug dealing at the property.
Shop selling fake cigs with youths outside abusing customers is forced to close
A convenience store was ordered to close for three months after a catalogue of anti-social behaviour connected with the premises.
The International Mini Market, in Warrington, was also found to be selling counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco after it was raided by police.
Complaints had been received about youths pestering people to buy them tobacco products from the Orford Lane convenience store, and verbally abusing those who refused.
(Image: Cheshire Police)
There were also reports of groups of people loitering around the shop and dangerous parking on the road because of the amount of people going to the premises.
When police raided the premises on May 18, they seized around 4,000 counterfeit cigarettes and around 40 packs of counterfeit tobacco.
Filthy drug den house tinned up by police
Pictures from inside a Wirral drug den showed a house covered in dirt and grime with food and waste strewn across every surface.
The house in Tranmere had been a nightmare for neighbours with drug deals taking place at all hours of the day and night.
There were also fights at the house with people living in Harrowby Road growing increasingly concerned about the anti-social behaviour and lack of social distancing throughout the pandemic.
Following weeks of hell for the neighbours and repeated warnings to the tenant, the house was tinned up on May 20 in a joint operation between Wirral Council and Merseyside Police.
‘Toxic nightmare’ drug den boarded up by police
Police boarded up a drug-blighted flat and ejected the tenant in Widnes after it became a “toxic nightmare” for residents .
Officers collected a “catalogue of evidence of repeated antisocial behaviour and drug-related activity” inside the flat in Dean Close, and were granted a closure order for the property on June 1.
(Image: cheshirepolice)
PC Chris Martin, of the Widnes beat team, said: “Residents had to endure anti-social behaviour and drug related behaviour.
“The fear and intimidation made for a toxic environment for residents who were really suffering because of this.”
Neighbours who made ‘lives a misery’ removed from house
Neighbours were removed from a St Helens property after “disrupting the community” and making “lives a misery”.
Merseyside Police, working with St Helens council, announced they obtained a closure notice from the courts for 34 Ghyll Grove, in St Helens, in June.
(Image: Merseyside Police)
The force said it comes after it received reports from members of the public in relation to drugs and anti-social behaviour at the location.
Merseyside Police said the occupiers “will no longer be able to disrupt our community”.
Drug den house branded ‘busier than a Co-op’ shut down again
A Wirral house being used as a drug den was boarded up once again.
The house, on Briarfield road in Ellesmere Port was “closed down” by officers from Cheshire Police on July 20 after a closure order was granted at Chester Magistrates Court.
The order was obtained after officers gathered information about the address being used as a drugs den for dealers and drug users and a catalogue of instances of anti social behaviour was recorded.
(Image: Cheshire Police)
The house was previously closed up in December 2020, with all the property’s windows and doors boarded up for three months.
At the time, one local resident spoke to the ECHO about people living in the vicinity being in constant fear of their homes being damaged, having their property stolen and too scared to let their children out on the street.
The resident said: “I used to call the house the co-op because it was busier than the shop. People would be in and out at three, four, five in the morning.”
House of drug dealers tinned up after violence spills onto street
An end terraced house was completely shut down in September after the behaviour of people living there blighted the neighbourhood.
The property in Scott Street, Warrington, was at the centre of reports of drug dealing and violence.
(Image: Cheshire Police)
These included drug users living at the property, and violent incidents both inside and outside the house.
‘Unliveable’ terraced house boarded up as tenant found living in squalor
A terraced house in Birkenhead was boarded up because of anti-social behaviour and because the tenant was living in squalor.
The property had no gas, electric or water supply, and the house was deemed to be “unliveable.”
(Image: Merseyside Police)
A picture posted on an official account belonging to Wirral Police in September showed the front door had been removed and boarded up.
Meanwhile wheelie bins and debris littered the front of the property. The name of the street was not given.
Police close house after reports of ‘out of control’ dog and drug dealing
A house was closed after causing neighbours “distress” due to anti-social behaviour and drug related activity.
The property, in Widnes, was boarded up by officers on October 21 after the force were granted a closure order for a house in Brookdale.
(Image: Cheshire Police)
Numerous incidents related to the home and its occupants were reported including noise complaints and reports of a dog which was out of control.
Detectives said there had also been reports of drug dealing at the address and possible links to County Lines.
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