A CRACK house which has blighted the lives of neighbours for the last three months has been closed down by police.

The flat, one of seven in a converted house in Hamilton Road, Boscombe, was being used by drug dealers to sell heroin and crack cocaine throughout the day and night, causing parents in the neighbouring flats to fear for the safety of their children.

However, police officers – using evidence gathered from neighbours – obtained a closure notice at Bournemouth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, and later that day the flat was boarded it up and the locks were changed.

One family, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Daily Echo how relieved they were that the nightmare of constant noise, fights and addicts injecting themselves in the hallway was over.

“We wouldn’t let our kids outside the flat, there were syringes and needles in the hallway carpet and scattered around the garden,” said the dad, who lives with his partner and five children.

“There were always strange people hanging around, and once the neighbours had to get a little girl out of the garden when there was a fight going on.

“Her parents were there but didn’t seem to care. We stuck it out as long as we could, but in the end we all got together to do something about it. The police have been really good and hopefully now it is all sorted out.”

PC Will Martindale said the tenant had already abandoned the flat when he and the landlord went in to seal it off on Tuesday, since an interim closure notice was posted there the day before.

“We haven’t made any new arrests but there have been several connected with this property over the last three months,” he said.

“We would like to thank local residents for their help in gathering evidence so we could shut this place down.”