Property closure

Crime crackdown continues with third property Closure

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Published:10:4408/01/2026

A crackdown on crime in East Middlesbrough has continued after a third problem property was shut down in less than three months.

Officers from Middlesbrough Council's east neighbourhood team, backed by Cleveland Police and Thirteen, secured a court-backed closure order for a house on Ingram Road, in Berwick Hills.

It was boarded up on Tuesday after months of complaints about crime and antisocial behaviour.

Teesside Magistrates' Court heard evidence that linked the property to drug dealing, late night noise and disturbances from off-road motorbikes which plague the area.

Residents repeatedly said that Ingram Road would be a much more peaceful place to live without the daily antisocial behaviour at the property.

But despite the best efforts of officers - including a drugs warrant being carried out by police last year - the serious nuisance continued and left the team with no choice but to apply for the order.

The action was fully supported by landlord Thirteen Housing Group, which has now terminated the property's tenancy to ensure those who lived there cannot return.

And the work forms part of a wider push to deal with crime in East Middlesbrough.

Two other properties on Elkington Walk in Netherfields - linked to drug dealing, serious violence and bad behaviour - were hit with separate closure orders before Christmas.

The work is part of Project Orme, a partnership between police, the Council and other public bodies which has been launched in East Middlesbrough to tackle organised crime and improve the lives of residents.

The approach follows the Home Office’s ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ approach which sees organised criminals and associates cleared from an area, backed up by high visibility patrols and community support.

Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Inspector Des Horton, said: “We will always take seriously any complaints from law-abiding residents, who shouldn’t have to put up with those who blight the lives of others with antisocial behaviour and criminality.

“This closure order is the result of action taken with our partners when residents’ concerns were raised, and we hope that they can now live more peacefully with the tenants moved on.”

Councillor Ian Blades, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive member for Neighbourhoods, said: “When houses like this one become magnets for antisocial behaviour and criminality, they make people’s lives a misery.

“We won’t tolerate that, and this closure shows we and our partners will take decisive and effective action to protect our neighbourhoods.

"I want to thank our neighbourhood officers for their hard work and to the courts for supporting our approach, and above all I’m grateful to members of the public for helping us with the information we need to secure closures like this.”

Kay Glew, Thirteen’s director of housing and communities, said: “The activities at this address were causing a serious nuisance to people living nearby and we just won’t tolerate it.

“We will always do everything in our power to tackle anti-social behaviour head on and protect our customers.

“I’d like to thank our staff and partners for all the work they’ve done to gather the evidence needed to secure this closure order.”