Drug Dens and Disorder: Hartlepool Residents Call for Crackdown...

Duke Street Hartlepool

Calls for the councils 'Safer Hartlepool Partnership' to meet, after concerns regarding prolific drug use in a Town Centre Street....

9th May 2025

Calls are said to be mounting for Hartlepool Borough Council and Cleveland Police to take urgent action, amid growing reports of crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) blighting a residential estate...

Its claimed areas of Duke Street, Sandringham Road, Topcliffe Street, and Brook Street — all located in a dense housing estate near Hartlepool town centre — have become flashpoints for drug dealing, Anti Social Behaviour & other associated crime, with local residents reporting brazen drug dealing and open substance misuse taking place in full view of the local community, with one member of the public claiming to have witnessed drug users injecting themselves within the grounds of a local social club, just metres away from homes where families, children and pensioners reside.

The situation is said to be fuelling wider anxieties about public safety and a perceived breakdown of law and order in the area. Long-time residents, some of whom have lived in the neighbourhood for decades, say the problem has been escalating unchecked for months, with criminal activity becoming more overt and disruptive by the week. Its also claimed a number of privately rented properties in the area are now being used as 'drug dens' & hubs for the storage and supply of illegal substances. This, locals argue, is not only bringing a transient population of addicts into the area, but also correlates with a spike in property-related crimes, including break-ins and attempted vehicle thefts.

A number of closure orders of properties in the nearby area have already been undertaken, however locals claim the problem is being shifted on elsewhere

A handful of these properties have recently been slapped with closure orders under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, forcing them to be shut down for a minimum of three months. But according to residents, the council and police are merely playing a game of “whack-a-mole” — each closure pushing the issue to another nearby street. One resident said, “It’s just musical chairs for drug dealers. You shut one house, and they’re setting up shop two doors down by the following week.”

Community pressure is now mounting on the Safer Hartlepool Partnership — the town’s multi-agency group tasked with addressing crime and safety — to convene an emergency meeting to draw up a coordinated action plan. Many believe the Partnership’s response has so far lacked urgency, and that meaningful intervention is long overdue.

A recent Freedom of Information request also revealed Hartlepool Borough Council has spent thousands of pounds in legal fees pursuing closure orders against a number of properties owned by private landlords in the area following claims of persistent drug use, only for the problem to resurface shortly after, raising questions over the long-term sustainability of the current enforcement strategy. Critics also point to the role of poor housing management, enforcement and a lack of proper vetting by landlords — particularly housing associations and out-of-town property investors — who are accused of turning a blind eye to who they’re letting properties to, so long as the rent is paid.

As one resident starkly put it, “We don’t feel safe in our own homes anymore. The authorities are too reactive and not nearly proactive enough. We want patrols, we want proper enforcement, and more importantly, we want the problem gone.”

With summer approaching and outdoor activity likely to increase, residents are worried that the ASB will only worsen in the warmer months unless robust action is taken now.

Whether the Safer Hartlepool Partnership will listen this time remains to be seen.