A closure order has been put in place for a bungalow in Hitchin due to the anti-social behaviour of the tenant.

The property was closed yesterday following application made by the Hitchin Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) and settle housing.

The order was granted at Stevenage Magistrates' Court to close the property in Hollow Lane for three months, due to the anti-social behaviour of the tenant and her associates, who were using the address.

Local officers had received numerous complaints regarding drug related activity at the property. The housing association, settle group, had also received complaints from residents regarding ASB connected to the address, which was having a detrimental effect on their lives.

Working with settle and other agencies, officers applied to have the address closed for a three-month period to give the local community some respite from the issues, while the problem is addressed.

The order was granted under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014. It bans anyone from entering the property for a period of three months.

Anti-social behaviour officer Jeanette Dallimore said: “Officers were called to the address on numerous occasions due to reports of anti-social behaviour and the issue was escalating”.

"Residents should not have to put up with this kind of activity impacting on their daily lives in this way. I hope this has reassured the community that we take reports like this very seriously and along with our partners, have worked extremely hard to gather evidence to support the closure order application.

“We will use every available tactic to tackle anti-social behaviour and I would continue to urge members of the community to report incidents of this nature to the police.”

You can contact your Safer Neighbourhood Officers by calling 101. You can also report information online at herts.police.uk/report, or speak to an operator via online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact.

Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or report information online at crimestoppers-uk.org.