A flat identified as a so-called 'crack den' has been closed by police after residents complained that addicts had been making their lives a misery for years.

Officers raided the ground-floor flat at Hughes House in Leon Close, East Oxford, yesterday afternoon to issue a temporary closure notice on the property.

The notice was executed using powers granted by the 2004 Antisocial Behaviour Act and means that anybody who attempts to enter the flat in the next two days will be arrested. For the time being, the tenant has been allowed to stay there.

Police hope they will be granted a longer closure order at a hearing at Oxford Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

If issued, the order would last a minimum of 42 days and would mean the tenant and all visitors were barred from the property.

Thames Valley Police has taken the step in conjunction with Oxford Citizen's Housing Association (OCHA), which owns the property, and Oxford City Council's Crime and Nuisance Action Team (Canact).

The closure comes under new legislation, commonly known as 'crack house' powers, which enable police to take action over houses where Class A drugs are believed to be sold or used.

All three agencies had received repeated complaints from neighbours who claimed their lives were being made a misery by addicts using communal areas of the flats to take drugs.

A 26-year-old resident, who was too frightened to be identified, said the situation had been going on for more than two years.

He said people would force open the main door of the flats or shout from outside to be let in.

He added: "There are literally crack heads here every day.

"There are people who are completely spaced out, they have broken the security lock on the main door again and again and again.

"I desperately want to get out of here. It's ruining our lives."

Pc Leigh Thompson a drugs liaison officer with Oxford Police, said areas with drug problems needed to be dealt with.

He said: "We will not stand by and watch decent members of the public see this kind of behaviour on their doorstep."