Court order bans anyone from entering alleged drugs hotspot property in city

AN ORDER has been imposed banning anyone from entering a property in a Yorkshire city’s neighbourhood that had become an alleged blackspot for drugdealing and anti-social behaviour.

Officers at York Council secured the order from the city’s magistrates yesterday to prevent anybody from entering the authority’s property at Backhouse Street in the Groves district for the next three months.

The premises closure order follows a rise in incidents of anti-social behaviour, both at the property and in the nearby area.

North Yorkshire Police officers arrested two people linked to the property on suspicion of drug offences including a 26-year-old man in the early hours of Valentine’s Day on suspicion of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

A woman, 30, was also arrested while a search warrant was carried out at the property on the same date, and has been charged with possessing cannabis.

The man has been released while under investigation and the woman is due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on March 14.

Drugs were also recovered from the property by officers, including tablets and a herbal substance believed to be cannabis.

Superintendent Lindsey Robson, the commander for the York and Selby areas, said: “As this operation demonstrates, we won’t hesitate to take robust action together with our partner agencies to disrupt suspected drug-related criminality in our neighbourhoods.”