Police secure closure order on Bennetts End property linked to suspected drug activity

Hertfordshire Police has secured a closure order on a property in the Bennetts End area of Hemel Hempstead linked to suspected drug use and anti-social behaviour.

St Albans Magistrates’ Court granted the three-month closure order last Friday (February 24). Residents made numerous complaints about anti-social activity at an address in Jennings Way. Dacorum Police’s Community Safety Unit (CSU) worked with officers from the property owner Notting Hill Genesis Housing Association to gather evidence of the tenants’ unacceptable behaviour that was having a detrimental effect on neighbours.

The order, which was granted under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, allows only Notting Hill Genesis, their agents, and the emergency services to enter the home. Anyone who breaches the terms of the order could face arrest and a fine, imprisonment or both.

Dacorum’s Safer Neighbourhood Team will continue to patrol the area. Sergeant Mike Saunders said: “We hope this result will provide some respite from the ongoing issues suffered by neighbours and improve their quality of life.”

“In the interim, we have asked neighbours to report any breaches of the order to us as soon as possible so we can take further action if required.

He explained: “Everyone deserves to feel safe and happy in their home and no one should be subjected to continued anti-social behaviour, such as the chronic use of cannabis and other drugs, loud music, people visiting at all hours of the day or night, verbal abuse, or intimidation.

“If you have information about suspected drug activity and anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood, please don’t hesitate to report it to us. We will take it seriously and we will do all we can to prevent it from adversely affecting the lives of decent, law-abiding people who live nearby.”