Young families are ‘regularly exposed to used needles, blood-soaked tissues, human faeces and urine in a South Bristol tower block where conditions are so bad magistrates have issued a court order to close it down.
For three months, the only people allowed in the communal areas of Millmead House will be the people who live there and their guests - and anyone else will committing an offence.
The closure order is only the third of its kind to be issued in Bristol, and follows months and years of residents complaining to the police and the council about anti-social behaviour, drug-taking, violence and gangs gathering at the block in Hartcliffe.
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Avon and Somerset police, backed by the city council’s housing department, went to Bristol Magistrates Court today to ask for the closure order, and it was granted.
The order means only residents will be allowed in the stairwells, lifts, corridors and foyers of the 11-storey block, as well as communal areas like the laundry and bin room.
A police spokesperson said: “Residents and young families living in the flats have been regularly exposed to used needles, blood-soaked tissues, human faeces, and urine in the stairwell areas. They were also subjected to noisy disturbances and large groups of people loitering in the halls, as well as fights. We’ve worked in partnership with Bristol City Council to issue warning letters, tenancy action and an injunction ahead of the closure order being granted. Arrests have also been made prior to the closure.”
The tower block, built in 1964, is one of three on Silcox Road close to the entrance road into Morrisons in Hartcliffe. It contains 62 flats, most of which are still owned by the city council.
The police’s anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Francesca Tween said the issues and offences were drug-related.
“The anti-social behaviour committed in the communal areas at Millmead House has left residents feeling unsafe and intimidated,” she said. “The closure order was made possible by the support and assistance of local residents and we’re asking them to continue reporting ASB and any breaches of the order to us so we can take any further action.
"We hope this positive outcome will help make Millmead House a safer place for residents and enable them to go about their daily lives without facing fear and intimidation,” she added.
The order is only the third of its kind issued by magistrates in Bristol - the others were imposed in 2018 on a tower block in Barton Hill, and in 2019 on two blocks of flats in Lawrence Hill.
In 2018, police issued a closure order on one specific flat in Millmead House, but this now is a different kind of order and relates to the entire block.
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