Leeds 'drugs den' is shut by council after court grants closure order

Number 15, Kelsall Avenue has been raided three times by police, each time resulting in illegal substances being found, and has been described by an inspector as being used "solely for the purposes of drug dealing".

The property, which is between Hyde Park and Burley but falls under the Woodhouse ward, has now been closed for three months after police were granted a closure order this week.

Leeds Magistrates Court heard how the terraced house was well-known for drugs-related anti-social behaviour, and a closure was sought by West Yorkshire Police and Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team to clamp down on drug dealing at the property.

The closure has been welcomed by police who said it would provide "much-needed relief" for neighbours.

Inspector Andy Loftus, from the Leeds North West Neighbourhood Policing team, said: "This address was being used solely for the purposes of drug dealing, which has been significantly detrimental to the quality of life of people in the area.

"While we have repeatedly taken action to execute search warrants, resulting in significant seizures of drugs and cash and the arrests of those involved, we recognised the need for a longer term solution.

"The granting of this closure order should provide some much needed relief to those residents who have had to live with the anti-social behaviour associated with this property.

"We will continue to work closely with our partner agencies to monitor the situation and we encourage residents to let us know about any further drug dealing activity in the area so we can take appropriate action."

The closure order means that no-one other than agreed individuals will be allowed access to the property over a three-month period.

Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member with responsibility for Safer Leeds, said: "We want to make it very clear that we will not tolerate any form of anti-social behaviour which is having a severe and negative impact on the lives of local residents, and we will seek to use every tool at our disposal to put a stop to it.

"This particular property has been involved in drugs-related anti-social behaviour, which is why working closely with the police we took the decision to seek a three-month closure order through the courts, which I am pleased to say has now been secured.

"No resident living in any community of our city should have to live with any form of anti-social behaviour, and I would urge anyone who is experiencing any issues, to please contact our dedicated LASBT team as soon as possible."

Any residents suffering from anti-social behaviour can get in touch with LASBT in the following ways: To report in the daytime call 0113 222 4402 or out of hours on 0113 376 0337 (between 6pm and 3.30am).