Property blighted by anti-social behaviour closed following court action

A property linked to drugs-related anti-social behaviour have been ‘closed’ by Leeds City Council.

This follows action taken by the Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team (LASBT) and West Yorkshire Police at Leeds Magistrates Court this month, which resulted in a three-month closure order being granted for 15 Kelsall Avenue, Burley.

The decision to seek a closure order followed a range of work which has been undertaken to target the organised supply of drugs at the property, and other related forms of anti-social behaviour. In total, the police have executed three drug warrants at the property, which resulted on each occasion, with illegal controlled substances found.

As part of the closure order, no one other than agreed individuals will be allowed to access the property, during the three-month period.

Any residents suffering from anti-social behaviour can get in touch with LASBT in the following ways: To report in the daytime call 0113 222 4402 or out of hours on 0113 376 0337 (between 6pm and 3.30am).

Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member with responsibility for Safer Leeds, said:

“We want to make it very clear that we will not tolerate any form of anti-social behaviour which is having a severe and negative impact on the lives of local residents, and we will seek to use every tool at our disposal to put a stop to it.

 “This particular property has been involved in drugs-related anti-social behaviour, which is why working closely with the police we took the decision to seek a three-month closure order through the courts, which I am pleased to say has now been secured.

“No resident living in any community of our city should have to live with any form of anti-social behaviour, and I would urge anyone who is experiencing any issues, to please contact our dedicated LASBT team as soon as possible.”

Inspector Andy Loftus, who heads the Leeds North West Neighbourhood Policing Team, said:

“This address was being used solely for the purposes of drug dealing, which has been significantly detrimental to the quality of life of people in the area.

“While we have repeatedly taken action to execute search warrants, resulting in significant seizures of drugs and cash and the arrests of those involved, we recognised the need for a longer term solution.

“The granting of this closure order should provide some much needed relief to those residents who have had to live with the anti-social behaviour associated with this property.

“We will continue to work closely with our partner agencies to monitor the situation and we encourage residents to let us know about any further drug dealing activity in the area so we can take appropriate action.”