A DRUGS house where three people have almost died from overdoses this year has been closed down after its "heroin dealing" tenant was evicted.

Magistrates granted the closure order after hearing that David Walsh's home was a magnet for drug users, leaving residents in South Street, Darwen, too scared to go out.

Today police said it would only have been a matter of time before somebody died at the house if action had not been taken.

Blackburn magistrates agreed to close the house for three months under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act after hearing how:

o In January, Darwen's most wanted man, a known drug addict, was arrested at the house

o Also in January, a policeman answering reports that someone had taken an overdose, had to fend off a group of people before giving mouth to mouth and resuscitating a man whose heart had stopped as he laid unconscious at the top of the stairs.

o In March, Walsh called police and reported he had just found one of his friends unconscious on the bathroom floor. Police found a small boy crying "pitifully" at the top of the stairs. His father was lying at his feet and he was barely breathing. Walsh said he thought he had tried a "speedball" - a mixture of heroin and cocaine

o In April, the ambulance service asked police to go to the house after a report that a man had overdosed. They found Walsh barely conscious but he refused all treatment and said he was "enjoying his hit too much."

The court was told that neighbours had made numerous complaints about activities surrounding Walsh's home. They reported visitors at all hours of the day and night and information suggested they were injecting heroin.

The police also received intelligence that Walsh was dealing in heroin, the court was told.

Walsh, 43, did not attend court to oppose the order and PC Richard Bailie said he understood he had already packed his belongings and left.

After the hearing, Sgt Claire Holbrook, of Darwen police, said: "Communities should not be expected to live their lives avoiding neighbours who attract disorder and chaos to the streets.

"This legislation is designed to protect these people and return them to the peace of the past.

"It was only a matter of time before someone lost their lives at this address where drug abuse was the norm for many months."

One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she had made her children avoid the house because she was afraid people would try and sell them drugs.

She said: "People would be in and out of the property all through the night and when we tried to tackle them about their behaviour we were threatened and then they would urinate on my car."

Another resident said: "It was really not nice seeing ambulances and police arriving at the property. It was obvious that all the people who were there were heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol."

But another neighbour said she was concerned for Walsh and added that because of drug use he needed "help and support."

The court was told that the house was rented to Walsh by a private landlord, who had co-operated with police and was said to be "delighted" with the eviction.

Last week the police successfully applied for a similar order, under the Anti-social Behaviour Act, against the home of a 58-year-old man in Cross Barn Grove, Darwen.