Neighbours on a Beeston estate said they spent months living in fear, alongside '24/7' drug dealing and prostitution, before police declared a problem property off limits this week.
The house in question, 29 Malvern Rise, has been boarded up by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Police will arrest anyone who sets foot inside for the next three months.
One woman living in a nearby house, who did not want to be named, said: "It was becoming scary. When I moved here it was a nice area and it was very quiet but then these things started at the end of last year.
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"There were needles and condoms in the alleyway through the houses.
"There were men and women around every night. Most of the women looked like prostitutes. They would be knocking at that door every five minutes."
She added: "Somebody stole clothes from my washing line and a woman kept knocking on my door all the time trying to sell perfumes to get money to go to the house with.
"I was worried for my safety. I would check my door was locked seven or eight times every time I came home."
Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous, described the situation as "unbearable".
"They were queueing up outside the door to buy drugs"
She said a man moved into the flat in October and the trouble started almost immediately.
"A man lived there on his own with his dog but there were smackheads and crackheads coming all the time," she said. "There'd be like 15 of them hanging around all the time.
"They were queueing up outside the door to buy drugs. There were prostitutes going in and out and they'd sit on the stairs to wait.
"They enticed teenagers to come and they were feeding them cigs and stuff like that."
One neighbour, who said he is desperate to leave the area, said the people buying and selling drugs and committing other crimes were totally brazen.
"They were not hiding," he said. "There were needles on the floor and condoms. It was constant, 24/7.
"Literally every time I looked out there was people going in and out. Every five minutes or ten minutes there was somebody coming, sometimes in nice cars, sometimes in taxis, sometimes they looked homeless."
A Premises Closure Order under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 was granted at Bradford Magistrates Court yesterday following an application led by Leeds City Council.
Inspector Tom Perry, who heads the Leeds South NPT, said: “The criminal and anti-social behaviour linked to this property has been seriously affecting the lives of nearby residents, and we were determined to work with our partner agencies to find a lasting long-term solution.
“We are confident that securing this closure order and shutting down the address will stop the problem and bring some welcome relief to people in the area.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and we encourage residents to let us know about any further incidents or issues in the area so we can take appropriate action.”
Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member with responsibility for safer Leeds said: “Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team and partners at West Yorkshire Police attended Bradford Magistrates Court on 8 February 2022 to obtain a Premises Closure Order on a property in the Beeston area after a number of significant incidents at the property.
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“Council officers and West Yorkshire Police have visited this property on a number of occasions following reports of Anti-Social Behaviour in and around the premises and while attending the property illegal controlled substances were found.
"A three-month premises closure order has been granted and as part of the closure order, no one will be allowed to access the property.
“We want to make it very clear that we will not tolerate any form of anti-social behaviour which is having a severe and negative impact on the lives of local residents, and we will seek to use every power at our disposal to put a stop to it.”
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