An Ellesmere Port flat dogged by anti-social behaviour and drug use has been shut down by the courts.

Magistrates granted a closure order relating to the property above a retail unit on Whitby Road at Chester Magistrates Court this afternoon (July 15).

Tenant Anthony Gee will be banned from entering the property for the three-month length of the order, despite his solicitor’s protestations that Mr Gee has nowhere else to go.

Rike Ridings, appearing on behalf of Cheshire Constabulary , explained that the force applied for the closure order due to ‘anti-social behaviour, drug use, domestic violence and numerous phone calls wasting police time’.

The court heard that a visitor to the flat – which is owned by Magenta Living – was stabbed with a knife in December 2015 and that police have received multiple reports of Mr Gee and his guests being drunk and causing excessive noise, in addition to a recent incident where they shouted abuse out of the window to passersby.

PC Graeme Morrison, from Ellesmere Port Police Station, told magistrates: “The premises itself is above a shop right in the heart of Ellesmere Port.

“We have had numerous reports of disorder, nuisance and alcohol misuse in the entrance area to the flat.

“The area is populated a lot of the time by all walks of life and near a primary school and medical practice.”

Peter Barnett, defending, said Mr Gee was ‘not the person directly causing the nuisance’, rather it was the people attending the flat, and that the closure order will ‘effectively put him out on the street’.

Magistrates satisfied by evidence

But presiding magistrates Andrew Platts said he was satisfied that anti-social behaviour, drug use and disorder have gone on at the premises and that Mr Gee was directly involved.

The order means anybody who enters the property over the next three months is committing a criminal offence.

Mr Gee will be allowed to return to the property to collect his dog and belongings, accompanied by police.

Speaking after the hearing, PC Morrison said: “The premises has been at the centre of anti-social behaviour for the past six months.

“Despite warnings to the occupants, these have been ignored and the behaviour has continued and worsened.

“We have worked in close partnership with Magenta Living, who have been fully supportive in this action.”