POLICE boarded up a towerblock flat used as a drug den.

Officers had applied to get the crack house in Pennine flats, Coleman Street, closed.

It is the first time in five years police have used this tactic to tackle suspected drug dealing.

Magistrates heard the full hearing on Friday (11) when they decided to seal it up and stop anyone going in there for the next three months under the Antisocial Behaviour Act.

Locksmiths moved in and drilled a piece of wood backed with a sheet of metal onto the doorframe to seal the property off.

FULL STORY AND PICTURES IN TODAY'S ECHO