Police use rare power to 'shut down' Nuneaton block of flats after months of trouble

A closure order has been issued on a block of flats in Nuneaton town centre. Warwick House, which is based close to the Fed Ex building, has been at the centre of trouble for more than a year.

This includes a number of deaths linked to drugs as well as trouble in the area and the wider town centre. It is for this reason that Nuneaton Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) bosses have used emergency powers to close the building.

It means that the tenants inside cannot currently go inside. Police officers will go to court tomorrow (November 26) to secure a closure order.

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Police Inspector Ryan Walker explained that it is not just the police who have concerns about the building, which is run by My Space Housing Solutions. So do other organisations as well as local authorities.

But it is the police which has evoked the rarely used power locally to try and get the flats shut down.

Now officers will go to court tomorrow morning to try and secure the order from a magistrate. If the order is granted, the building will be permanently closed for three months.

"There has been criminality in and around the property," he explained. "There is also drug use within the property and this has led to some fatalities.

"Other agencies also have concerns about the property. This is the first time we have issued a notice order on flats, but we have a duty of care and this is a last resort after attempts have been made to contact tenants and the property owner."