A sickly smell of decay wafted into the street as the front door opened for the bailiffs.

The garden path was littered with rubbish and rubble. A broken bike, smashed TV, and remnants of a wooden fence.

A beware-of-the-dog sign was by the front door, below a smashed window.

Blackened bedsprings poked out of the charred remains of a bonfire in the garden.

Almost every room inside the two-

bedroom flat in Natal Road, Brighton, was filled with rubbish, empty cans, bedding, unwashed crockery and soiled clothes.

Mothers holding young babies watched from the pavement, smiling and chatting as the tenant was driven away to emergency bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Some residents were so pleased they talked of organising a street party. They have been putting up with years of threats, abuse and the constant stream of cars pull-ing up outside the address, night and day. Police said some visitors were drug users.

The past six months have been the worst.

Inspector Rob Carden, north Brighton police commander, said: "There have been 12 arrests there in the last six weeks.

"We were regularly responding to emergency calls to fights and trouble.

"There was a constant flow of people in and out of the house. Some who stayed there came from another home in Brighton which had been repossessed by the council."

One resident of Natal Road said: "I have lived in this street for 12 years. Most of the residents are decent people who stick together. But this lot were terrible."

Natalie Bowles, 38-year-old mother-of-two, said she had been too frightened to let her 12-year-old child out of the house on his own. "Cars would pull up throughout the day and night, sometimes 20 an hour."

Her friend, a pregnant mother, who declined to be named, said she had been threatened by people in the flat after her handbag had been stolen.

She said: "A man there eventually returned my bag and apologised for the actions of others inside the flat."

Angela Freeman said: "It has been really stressful for everyone living in Natal Road. Everyone was frightened."

Mr Carden said: "They have been the victims of anti-social behaviour and they have put up with a lot."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour and we will take whatever action to enforce a tenancy agreement and deal with the perpetrators."