A Bollington abode which for years attracted crime, is to remain boarded up for slightly longer than first anticipated.

The property at Ovenhouse Lane was a hive for anti-social behaviour, violence, and drug related activity.

Following a court date at Crewe Magistrates Court on Tuesday 26th January 2021, control of the property was seized by the police.

Since the closure order was granted at the start of the year, the tenant who was residing at the address has been formally evicted and the house became boarded up.

All the windows and doors at the address were covered up and were to remain so for three months.

Despite this, it appears the property will remain boarded for at least another month without a new tenant, as Macclesfield social landlords and new owners Peaks & Plains Housing Trust have not yet been permitted legal access.

The housing trust are now in the process of applying to the courts to have the closure order lifted to enable the property to be renovated and made available for a new family.

Cheshire Constabulary have applied to the Magistrates Court, to allow the Trust to be legally allowed to enter. This date for which they may be granted access is currently unknown.

Despite the wait however, a Trust spokesperson provided the following statement on the terraced home:

"The property is still in control of the Police. We're working closely with them to submit an application to the courts to get the house returned to our control."

"We understand that this delay is upsetting to those who live in this community.

"Like them, we are extremely eager to get this house back under our control so that we can turn it around as quickly as possible and relet it to suitable new tenants in housing need."

The leafy town was Named Best Place to Live in the North West in 2020 by The Sunday Times.

The so-called Happy Valley has just one crime per 1000 people according to Cheshire Constabulary figures from 2019. Whereas the average figures are eight crimes for every 1000 people for the whole of the county.

There are currently 76 empty homes in Bollington, according to recent Bollington Town Council data.

The last property for sale on Bollington's Ovenhouse Lane sold for £194,000 in November 2018.

Cheshire Constabulary had nothing further to comment.