A man has been arrested after £8,000 of suspected heroin and a large knife were seized from a property in Hitchin on Wednesday.

The Comet: A closure order has been granted after a drugs raid in Hitchin's Sunnyside Road. Picture: Herts Police.A closure order has been granted after a drugs raid in Hitchin's Sunnyside Road. Picture: Herts Police. (Image: Archant)

A warrant for the address, in Sunnyside Road, was executed by officers from the North Herts Operation Scorpion Team, after complaints from residents about drug dealing, drug use and anti-social behaviour.

A 21-year-old man from Sandy was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs, with £8,000 worth of heroin, a large knife and £340 seized.

On Thursday, a closure order for the property was granted at Stevenage Magistrates’ Court under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The order bans anyone from entering the address for three months. If any unathourised person enters the property, they will be arrested and could be fined of up to £5,000.

Anti-social behaviour officer Jeanette Dallimore said: “Following the warrant we worked quickly with the housing association to get the address shut down.

“We received a large number of complaints relating to the activity of the occupants of the address and I would like to thank the local community for the information they provided to us, which enabled us to take positive action.

“By closing the address, we hope to provide residents in the area with some respite from the on-going issues. We take reports like this very seriously and have worked quickly to tackle the issue.

“I would continue to urge members of the community to report any anti-social behaviour of this nature to the police.”

If you have any information about anti-social behaviour, call the non-emergency number 101, or report online at herts.police.uk/report.

Following the initial police appeal, Hertfordshire Constabulary has released the following statement: “On Thursday, April 11, we reported that officers from the Safer Neighbourhood Team had closed an address in Sunnyside Road in Hitchin due to drug crime and anti-social behaviour associated with it.

“We released a photograph with this that in fact included two addresses, a top floor maisonette which had been subject of the closure order, and a second ground floor property.

“We would like to clarify that the ground floor property is in no way connected with the activity at the top floor address. We would like to apologise for any confusion or misunderstanding arising from use of the photograph.”