Rise in drug offences prompts police to act

POLICE want to be given the power to boot drug dealers and known criminals out of parts of Kentish Town and Dartmouth Park. Officers have applied for a new dispersal zone around Tufnell Park Underground station in response to a rise in drug dealing in rec

POLICE want to be given the power to boot drug dealers and known criminals out of parts of Kentish Town and Dartmouth Park.

Officers have applied for a new dispersal zone around Tufnell Park Underground station in response to a rise in drug dealing in recent months.

Police say the dealers have also been targeting vulnerable pupils from Acland Burghley secondary school, which stands at the heart of the proposed dispersal zone.

Sgt Peter Ryan, of Kentish Safer Neighbourhoods Team, has been involved in the discussions but the move was first put forward by his colleagues in Islington, which borders on Tufnell Park.

He said: "This is not the total solution to these problems but it does give us the power to keep known criminals out of the area."

The proposed area would include parts of Highgate Road, Chetwynd Road and Dartmouth Park Hill as well as Brecknock Road. Several streets on the Islington side of Tufnell Park will also be covered.

Because it is a cross-border zone it will ultimately be down to the Met's deputy assistant commissioner to give the project the green light.

If it is enforced, the dispersal zone will be in place from February 23 until August 22.