Swarms of police turfed suspected heroin and crack dealers out of their dens in a bid to smash a notorious drugs racket.

Grateful neighbours came out into the streets to shake the hands of officers who moved in on an infamous hideout.

Teams of officers raided a seaside building, renowned for its sordid reputation, as they targeted suspected dealers blamed for blighting a neighbourhood.

The streets around Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, filled with police before the raid yesterday.

Four motorcycle outriders escorted a 22-strong convoy of police vehicles from force HQ in Lewes to 72 and 74 Pevensey Road.

Ninety officers wearing stab-proof vests and helmets used battering rams to launch synchronised raids on 21 rooms.

The premises, also known as the Paron Hotel, has gained an appalling reputation in the neighbourhood for its drugs links.

Its sordid reputation has grown over the years, much to the dismay of its neighbours.

Paron Hotel was named in a murder case six years ago when Lewes Crown Court heard its residents lived in a "sordid, twilight world" where life revolved around getting drunk.

James Neil was jailed for life in 1999 for murdering fellow hotel resident George Davitt in a row over a relationship.

The court heard during the case how residents spent much of their time in a "drunken haze" and their world was one where "violence was a common occurence".

Neighbours now hope to claim back a better quality of life and that peace can be restored to the area after police served a full closure notice under the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003.

It is the first closure notice for a hotel in Sussex and follows consultation with Eastbourne Borough Council.

As officers from across Sussex joined in the raid, a syringe was found discarded on the steps leading up to the four-storey building. Many more were littered inside.

Officers made 12 arrests during the operation. Some suspects were arrested at the scene while others known to live there were arrested elsewhere in the town.

Eight of those 12 were held on suspicion of Class A drug offences, including supplying heroin and crack cocaine.

The other four were arrested for drugs-related offences and last night they remained in custody. Cash totalling £450 and bundles of drugs paraphernalia were seized. In addition, a further two people were held on Monday night on suspicion of Class A drugs supply and appeared before magistrates.

Yesterday, meticulous fingertip searches of each room were carried out and sniffer dog units were deployed. In one squalid room, syringes and drugs paraphernalia including blackened teaspoons and strips of tin foil were laid out. Another room had been barricaded with a plank.

The raid, codenamed Operation Hat-trick, followed three months of intensive police intelligence-gathering.

Startled neighbours peered through their curtains and gathered outside as police rounded up the suspects.

Grateful residents, fed-up with enduring antisocial behaviour and crime next door, shook Chief Inspector Peter Mills' hand.

Mr Mills, Eastbourne district commander, said: "Eastbourne will not tolerate being a place for drug dealers."