A GAINSBOROUGH man is homeless today after his home was boarded up by police amid claims it was used as a drugs den.Kevin Clark, 42, was booted out of Perkins Way, Ipswich, after magistrates granted a police request to shut the property down for three months.

A GAINSBOROUGH man is homeless today after his home was boarded up by police amid claims it was used as a drugs den.

Kevin Clark, 42, was booted out of Perkins Way, Ipswich, after magistrates granted a police request to shut the property down for three months.

Police claimed they had received information that Clark's home was a “crack house” - used to peddle hard drugs - and was a regular haunt for addicts and prostitutes.

Mr Clark, who admits to being an addict in the past, refutes the allegations.

Inspector Mark Lewis of Suffolk police said that, despite no drugs being found at the property during searches, there had been a whole host of complaints from neighbours about goings-on there.

He said these included the use and supply of Class A drugs, hypodermic needles being found in communal bins and scores of people visiting the home and creating a nuisance.

Insp Lewis said: “The court order allows a three-month closure which means residents in the area can have a rest from the activities and can go about their daily activities again without threat or harassment.

“The housing association will work to get a new tenant and restore some normality.”

Mr Clark told The Evening Star he has been left with nowhere to go.

He said: “I have been hounded out. I feel angry. I have got nowhere to stay.

“I can understand where they are coming from because there are a lot of people coming to and from the house but drug dealing - no.”

A neighbour of Mr Clark, 31-year-old Michael Stuanton, said at least a dozen households in the street signed a petition for Clark to stay.

He said: “We have never had any problem with him.

“The people who made the statements against him don't even live hear anymore.”

The closure of Mr Clark's home in Gainsborough came less than two weeks after high profile dawn raids on suspected drug dealers in Ipswich.

Twenty police officers were involved as police swooped on two flats in Downside Close in the Chantry area on May 24.

Wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, along with £1,000 in cash, were discovered during a search of one of the flats.

The raids were part of Operation Academy, a major initiative targeting pushers infiltrating the town form London and other areas.

Anyone who believes a property in Ipswich may be in use as a crack house is asked to contact Pc Matthew Smy on 01473 613500.

Do you support the police's tough stance? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.