Residents of a Sutton-in-Ashfield street say they were shocked to discover that court orders had been imposed on two properties there which ban the occupants from entering. Nottinghamshire Police announced that the orders had been secured from Mansfield Magistrates' Court on Friday, August 19.
The force said that the action came following repeated reports of drug-related crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour. The district commander for the area said that the behaviour on Collins Avenue was having a "huge negative impact on people living nearby".
A complete closure order has been imposed on one property, which is now boarded up, banning anyone from entering it for a period of three months. Another property had a partial closure imposed on it, which bans the occupant from entering it.
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But some of those living in houses neighbouring the court order properties expressed their surprise at the action taken. Kieran Barnes, 24, said: "We'd actually been on holiday for a week when this happened so we left with the properties being normal and then came back to see that one of them had been closed off.
"We've lived here for just under a year so we haven't been here for long but we never personally experienced any issues with the people living there. We just keep ourselves to ourselves and we might have said good morning to them and so on but we didn't really know the people there."
Darik Skomko, 40, said: "I didn't know anything about the closure until I obviously saw the house closed last week. We haven't had any issues from that place.
"I did see the police at the property maybe two or three times and I've heard that there were some problems with drugs, but we never experienced any problems. It's not really a street where people talk to each other so there are perhaps some who have had problems but I wouldn't know."
Jake Slack, 21, said: "I was actually out fishing when they came and so when I came back it was a shock to see the place all boarded up. It did come a bit out of nowhere really because I never had any issues with the people there.
"I didn't really know the people there but I think they'd only been here a couple of years. I've seen on Facebook that it was antisocial behaviour and stuff like that which caused the closure, but I've lived here for all my life and it's not something I've experienced."
Despite the surprise from some residents, Nottinghamshire Police has stressed that the force was being "very regularly" called by concerned local residents. Inspector Jon Hewitt, the district commander for Ashfield, said: "When I started as the district commander I spoke of a carrot and stick approach. We will be really supportive to help those who are vulnerable or struggling to divert from crime and drug use.
"This is unfortunately the stick part of the approach we are embedding. If you deal drugs in Ashfield I will instruct my officers to come after your house, there is no place for dealing in Ashfield.
“These properties had unfortunately become a magnet for drug-related crime and disorder and we were very regularly being called by concerned local residents. It was frankly an intolerable situation that was having a huge negative impact on people living nearby.
"Working with the council's community safety team, we have listened to local residents and taken decisive action to protect them from further harm. I would urge other residents experiencing similar problems to keep in regular contact with us so we can take this kind of decisive action to stop such behaviour."
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