Locks changed on empty flat in De Beauvoir Estate after it’s taken over by partying gang members

Police were forced to change the locks on an empty flat in the De Beauvoir Estate after gang members moved in and kept throwing parties.

Hackney Council was inundated with complaints of anti-social behaviour (ASB) coming from the property in St Aubins Court throughout September. It had been empty since June after the previous tenant died and a succession application was rejected.

So when town hall ASB officers visited the flat to find a group of people there who had no connection to the address at all, they decided to bring reinforcements.

Cops then visited two weeks ago with council workers to get rid of the gang. The locks were changed and “security screens” were erected to stop the yobs getting back in.

The town hall said: “We are looking to obtain the bailiff appointment as soon as possible and then re-let the property.”

It’s not clear how the gangs got hold of the key to the flat. One of the people inside said they were the son of the tenant who died – but he had been in prison for five years and none of the neighbours knew who he was.