Police in Eastbourne have relentlessly pursued drug dealers to help banish illegal substances from the streets.

The latest effort led to 90 officers storming a hotel at 72 and 74 Pevensey Road and rounding up 12 suspects.

Grateful neighbours fed-up with round-the-clock disturbances shook the hands of officers for bringing the suspects to heel.

Police were last night granted permission from magistrates to fully close the property. Now residents are looking forward to a community free of drugs and crime.

Chief Inspector Peter Mills' message is brutally clear: "If you deal drugs in Eastbourne, I will hound you out of town".

The tough-talking Eastbourne district commander honoured his pledge in spectacular fashion on Tuesday.

Ninety officers from across Sussex stormed 72 and 74 Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, to destabilise a hard drugs racket.

Twelve suspects were arrested and police served a full closure notice on the property - the first of its kind in Sussex.

Evidence was put before magistrates yesterday, including from two brave neighbours and police video footage.

At 5.50pm, following a full afternoon session at Eastbourne Magistrates Court, a full three-month closure notice was granted.

The notice means anybody, including the owner, who steps foot inside the building without police faces arrest.

Carpenters immediately started boarding up the property, also known as the Paron Hotel and residents were evicted.

A jubilant Mr Mills said: "I'm absolutely delighted. No one deserves to live with the sort of disturbances that have been going on there.

"I'm glad for the residents and I'm glad that the police have had a part to play in helping reclaim the streets."

The decision delighted neighbours who have endured years of crime, drugs and antisocial behaviour.

For many residents, venturing out after dark has been off limits because of fear of crime on the streets.

Yesterday, they welcomed the police crackdown, codenamed Operation Hat-trick, and hoped for a return to a peaceful and calm neighbourhood.

Neighbour Bill Armstrong, 48, said: "Our lives have been made a living hell by druggies operating round here.

"It got to the stage where you would be fearful of stepping outside your front door after dark in case you got a knife stuck in you. People would turn up at all hours of the day and night, screaming and shouting. You could tell just by looking at their pale, skinny bodies that they were hooked on drugs.

"The police have got to be congratulated. They have listened to what we have been saying to them and acted in the best possible way."

Joyce Redmond, 63, said: "Drugs have been a big problem round here for ages. I suppose with there being a lot of low-rent bedsits here, the area seems to attract a lot of undesirables.

"I'm glad the police have taken a firm stand. It will hopefully lead to less drugs being on the streets and less annoyance for people like us. But my worry is that the whole problem will sprout back up again. If there is a demand for drugs, then the users will get them from somewhere.

"Let's hope the police win this battle."

South African nurse Mdileka Cole, 30, said: "I've lived here in a rented flat for seven months and they make noise until 2am.

"There is also a lot of fighting and intimidation. It's a shame because other parts of this road are actually very nice."

And that is a sentiment shared by a good many people. The general feeling among long-time residents is that the property has sullied the reputation of Pevensey Road.

One resident of 20 years, who declined to be named, said: "Ninety per cent of the people here are well behaved, caring and considerate to others. Many of them are University of Brighton students.

"This road used to be immaculate, with plenty of good-quality guesthouses owned by people who really took care of their properties.

"It really is a small minority of people, no doubt addicted to drugs, who have given the road a bad name.

"They are young people, fit and able enough to go out and work yet who prefer to sit around and take drugs.

"I think it is up to the landlords to be far more stricter on who they put in their properties."

Sales assistant Ruth Hastings, 62, originally from Merseyside, said she believed the area had been given an unfair reputation.

Ms Hastings, who lives in nearby Longstone Road, said: "The area has been rundown for a long time but I believe money is being put into the area.

"Having lived here for more than six years, I have thankfully never been accosted and I feel quite safe walking after dark with my daughter."

A student, who declined to be named, said she was advised not to live in Pevensey Road when she moved to Eastbourne from Hertfordshire.

However, she said: "It seems alright round here. Obviously you have to be careful but I don't think it is different anywhere else.

"I think some of my friends wouldn't like to live here and I must admit that we walk round in packs and never alone."

Police returned to the hotel yesterday morning - and promptly arrested a man after a fight broke out outside the targeted property.

Still people loitered outside the building, some drinking cans of lager at 11am. But police vowed to maintain the pressure on anyone seeking to plug the drugs void.

Outside the property, Mr Mills told The Argus: "I have always said that if you choose to deal in a nice town like Eastbourne then I will be relentless in pursuing you.

"I don't care how long it takes. They will need to look over their shoulder because I will hound them out of the town.

"To those people who choose not to learn any lessons, I say to them that I know what they are involved in and it will be only a matter of time before they are hunted down."