THREE notorious ‘drugs den’ addresses in Newton Abbot have been shut down by police this afternoon (November 2) after closure order applications were granted by town magistrates.

Two elderly tenants and a property owner were spending this afternoon securing alternative accommodation after the court lock-out which is active for a maximum three months.

None of the orders was contested by the three – homeowner Sean Gallogly, of 58 Prospect Terrace, and tenants Melanie Green and Linda White, of the Russell House flats complex in East Street.

Locks will be changed at the two Russell House flats by landlords the Guinness Trust while police were due to board up the Prospect Terrace property later today.

The court heard there had been a ‘substantial history’ of criminal and drugs-related behaviour and disorder in and around all three properties.

The Prospect Terrace property was known locally as The Crack House with troubles linked to the address since 2008.

A catalogue of local residents’ grievances were read out in court by police representative Rachel Adams who applied for the closure orders.

She revealed that nearly 50 police-related incidents at Prospect Terrace had been logged in the last year alone with 15 crimes linked to the address over the same period.

The ‘main protagonist’ at the Russell House troublespot was named in court as Paul White, the son of ‘vulnerable’ Linda White who did not attend the hearing. The uncontested application was heard in her absence.

Ms Adams said: ‘If Paul White’s mother no longer lives there, he has no reason to go there.’

She said ‘elderly and vulnerable’ residents at the flats complex and neighbours in Prospect Terrace had been living in fear in their own homes because of the drugs-related mayhem around them.

The court was told Melanie Green had already voluntarily surrendered her tenancy.