A SOUTHAMPTON councillor has hit out after a suspected drug den was shut down by police.

Residents say they suffered constant disruption while the flat in Kent Street, Northam, was used by county lines drug dealers and was regularly left insecure for people to come and go.

One resident complained one of the men was a “drunk who would knock on people’s doors and ring their bells for someone to let him in”.

Councillor Kataria Toqeer, who represents Bevois on the city council, said: “It is sad to see county line drug dealers in Southampton where children from the age of a little as 12 are being used to distribute drugs. Police are doing a great job in gathering intelligence to crack down to those gangs and networks that are operating through county lines.

“I would urge residents to report to the police of any drug dealing or suspicious activity. Communities must work together and help the police as much as possible through providing local knowledge and intelligence. This information would really help crack down on operations such as the one in the flat on Kent Street.”

A resident said: “I was leaving the flat that day and I saw officers surrounding the block and I did know it was about drugs. They had visitors who were the same kind of people and they looked suspicious. There was one person there two weeks ago.”

Another neighbour added: “It is the first time I hard about it. I see it on TV all the time so it is not that surprising and it happens everywhere. On Friday I saw a police officer here with his phone taking pictures, but I saw no form of raid.”

A spokesperson from Hampshire police said: “The flat has now been made secure and will mean no one else can enter or use it as a base to carry out any drug-related activity.” The flat was shut down on April 13.