A house in Letchworth is under a three-month closure order following complaints of antisocial and abusive behaviour.

Officers from the North Herts Community Safety Unit were granted the closure order on the home in Ashdown by Stevenage magistrates on May 30.

The home was being investigated by police after neighbours reported abusive behaviour from the occupant.

The order prevents anyone from entering the property for three months and anyone who breaches this can be arrested.

Magistrates were satisfied that the necessary criteria to grant the order had been met.

The criteria includes: A person has, or is likely to engage in disorderly, offensive or criminal behaviour on the premises, the use of the premises has or will result in serious nuisance to members of the public and there has been or is likely to be disorder near those premises associated with the use of the house.

Herts police worked in partnership with Settle – formerly North Herts Homes – the Herts Fire and Rescue Service and North Herts District Council to gather evidence in support of the closure order.

Both the police and Settle had received numerous calls from members of the public reporting anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, arson and threatening conduct involving the occupant.

North Herts community safety sergeant Sammy Doak said: “To help us tackle ASB in Letchworth we work closely with partner agencies to put a permanent stop to these types of situations, which cause distress and upset to those who have to live in the vicinity.

“Securing these closure orders is a significant part of helping us to achieve that.

“For many months we responded to complaints about the antisocial behaviour of the occupant.

“By taking this action to close the address, we hope to provide the community with some respite from the on-going issues that cause such misery for neighbours.

“However I would urge local residents to please continue to report anything of concern to us.”

To report incidents to the police go to herts.police.uk/Report or call 101.

If you witness a crime or antisocial behaviour in progress call 999.