Liverpool city council says it has vowed to clamp down on ‘crack houses’ after police successfully served a closure order on a flat – the first of its kind in the city.
Neighbourhood Officers and Liverpool City Council’s Anti Social Behaviour Team have been gathering evidence about the activities surrounding the flat in Southwell Place, Dingle, L8 and its occupants, a man and a woman, over recent months. As a result, a closure notice has been issued in connection with the unlawful use, production and supply of Class A drugs associated with disorder or serious nuisance under the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003. Following the closure notice Liverpool city council has begun possession proceedings through the county court, to seek the eviction of the tenants.
What they say
Councillor Flo Clucas, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Housing, said: "The council made a vow that if people gave us evidence of people mis-using a property in this way we would act. And people can see the result of those actions. We are determined to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour. Now we will begin a clean up of this property, seek to re-let the house to new tenants and restore order and safety to this community. The public have played a crucial part in this particular case. With their co-operation this criminal activity has ceased. If people give us the evidence we’ll take action."
Police officers had observed the flat and the activities surrounding it. They noted a large number of people were calling at the house at all hours of the day and night. This resulted in a great deal of noise and associated disorder while at the premises. The observations came as a result of information from members of the public. Police officers will continue to watch the property to ensure that the order is enforced and nobody to try to enter the house, the council adds. Under the order police have immediate power to close the property completely and remove people, even those with rights of ownership for a period of three months. Breach of the order is an offence and people can be arrested if they enter the building.
Merseyside Police’s Acting Neighbourhood Inspector for Dingle and St Michael’s, Neil Ruddick, said: "The closure order is the result of a long running and complex operation between police and the local authority which came about as a result of concerns expressed to us by members of the public. Consequently we have acted upon that information given to us and we want to reassure members of the local community that we will take positive action against those people who are involved in the supply of controlled drugs and I would urge the local community to continue to support the police in order to send out a clear message that such activities will not be tolerated. The activities of drug dealers not only blights our communities, it ruins lives and makes life a misery for those people who wish to carry out their day to day activities without fear. We will continue to work with the local authority’s Anti Social Behaviour team to continue to seek closure notices on any such premises such as this in the future." Councillor Richard Marbrow, Liverpool city council’s Executive Member for Community Safety, said: "This is a great result for our anti-social behaviour team, the police and most importantly for anyone living in the shadow of a ‘crack house’. Such places cause great fear and unrest within a community and can ruin people’s lives. Everyone deserves to live in peace and quiet and we will clamp down hard on those who undermine people’s safety."
