“LIVING HELL” FLAT IN RAMSGATE CLOSED DOWN

New legislation has been used for the first time in Thanet to close down a home in Ramsgate that’s been the centre of anti-social behaviour over a number of months.

Thanet District Council has taken out a Premises Closure Order against the residents of 13c Augusta Road, Christopher Bygrave (23) and Thomas McConnell (17). The order was served on Thursday 12 May, following a hearing at Margate Magistrates’ Court. It’s the first time that this legislation has been used in Thanet, with the law changed around 18 months ago. Prior to that, only the police could close down a property if it was being to supply or manufacture drugs.

The problems started last summer, with complaints about noise being made to the owners of the property, the Riverside Group, which provides social housing. The situation escalated dramatically at the end of March, and since then, the police have been called out to the property on 20 different occasions.

Local residents have been intimidated and threatened, with a significant increase in reported crime in the immediate surrounding area. People have been seen carrying knives and rubbish, including glass bottles, has been thrown out of the property. Taps were left running in the flat and the overflowing water brought part of the bedroom ceiling down in the flat below.

Enforcement Services Manager, Mark Richardson, said: “It was clear, from what had been going on at this flat, that we had to take action. Life has been unacceptable for the residents living nearby, and they’ve described the last few weeks as a “living hell”. The council is not prepared to tolerate this sort of unacceptable behaviour from anyone. We now have the powers to close down properties if we’re aware of anti-social behaviour like this and we’re not afraid to use them to try and bring some peace back to ordinary people’s lives.”

The Premises Closure Order will last for the next 12 weeks and if anyone tries to re-enter the property during that period, they can be arrested by the police. The maximum penalty for failing to comply with one of these orders is a fine of up to £5,000 or up to 51 weeks in prison.