The tenant of a "Fagin's den" flat has been evicted after months of complaints from neighbours and a string of raids by police.

There have been 13 arrests at the address in six weeks and residents had put up with years of threats and anti-social behaviour from people who stayed there.

Neighbours in Natal Road, off Lewes Road, Brighton, were popping champagne corks last night after waving goodbye to the woman whose name the council flat was in.

An ambulance crew and police with stab-proof vests, riot helmets and shields were on standby as bailiffs evicted Sharon Johnson, in her 30s.

Council officials arranged for her to move to emergency bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Police earlier arrested a man who lived with her. He was wanted on outstanding warrants.

Kemp Town MP Des Turner said: "That address has been driving neighbours wild. They have been coming to my surgery to complain en masse for years.

"It has been something of a Fagin's den and it is a pretty-good candidate for the title 'The worst and most anti-social address in the city'.

"There have been numerous police raids.

"I am absolutely delighted this action was taken, most of all for the long-suffering neighbours.

"This was a good example of a multi-agency approach to a problem and I hope it acts as a warning to those intent on making the lives of others hell.

"It will not be tolerated. They will be cracked down on."

Council solicitors obtained a repossession order and yesterday at Brighton County Court they fought off a bid by Mrs Johnson to suspend the order.

Mrs Johnson, who uses a wheelchair, did not oppose the repossession order granted last month to Brighton and Hove City Council but said she needed more time to pack her belongings and find somewhere else to live.

Judge Carlton Edwards, at Brighton County Court, dismissed her application after hearing 14 police officers, some wearing protective equipment, were waiting with the bailiffs to carry out the repossession.

The court heard the city council had previously been granted an injunction ordering Mrs Johnson to stop the anti-social behaviour. When the order was breached the city council took repossession proceedings on the grounds of nuisance and illegal use of the premises.

Mrs Johnson failed to appear in court on April 26 for the hearing and the city council was granted immediate possession of the property, where internal damage valued at £6,000 had allegedly been caused.

At the latest hearing the judge heard how police and the city council received a catalogue of complaints. At the weekend police received 999 calls complaining about a serious fight at the premises, which spilled out into the garden and the street.

Sergeant Steve French, a local community beat officer, told the court he had a log of more than 20 calls complaining about behaviour and disturbances since December. He said the number of people in the house varied and could total ten.

The calls alleged drug dealing was going on at the property, there had been warrants executed for the arrest of people in the property in connection with other matters and reports of disturbances, including a window being broken and a person being threatened with a knife.

He had also visited the property with firefighters in connection with concern over the storage of gas canisters. It had also been reported the property was being lit by candles because there was no electricity connection.

He said if the warrant for possession did not go ahead he feared for the safety of the neighbours.

Mrs Johnson, who said she had undergone 22 operations in the past three years, told the judge she needed two to three weeks' more time to move. She said she only found out about the legal proceedings four days earlier and denied receiving any documents about the case.

She admitted she had broken the terms of her tenancy but said she would have defended the application for repossession if she had known about it.

She said she was living alone with her husband but in the past a friend had stayed for a while.

She said: "We had friends coming and going and we asked them to stop. All I know is in the past few days it has been quieter in my property."

She said she wanted to leave the property but did not know where she would end up living.

She said: "I don't know what to do and where to go. I am not opposing the order because there has been a lot of rowdy behaviour. All I am doing is asking for a bit more time."

The court heard the couple will be offered bed-and-breakfast accommodation while the city council's housing department investigates whether they have made themselves intentionally homeless. Meanwhile, their belongings will be stored by the city council.

At the eviction was John Mitchell, of the New Deal community safety team, which gathered evidence from neighbours to launch the legal action to evict.

He said: "We would hope to resolve problems like these without evictions but it was not possible in this case."