A pair of council tenants in Kent have been evicted from their homes after making their neighbours' lives "a misery".

The two homes in Newtown Green, Ashford have been ordered to shut for three months following a spate of serious anti-social behaviour complaints.

Folkestone Magistrates' Court approved closure orders on May 29 - and now, the tenants of both properties have been evicted and their keys confiscated.

The orders were granted after an application by Ashford Borough Council, whose housing team received numerous complaints from neighbours about persistent anti-social behaviour.

Ashford Borough Council has released images of the properties with their windows boarded up

The court heard allegations that the defendants engaged in disorderly, offensive and criminal behaviour, and consistently allowed the premises to be used for criminal and disruptive anti-social activities.

Kent Police had been called to the properties on several occasions.

Regular visitors to the homes engaged in drug use, noise and music after 10pm, banging doors, threatening behaviour to contractors, visitors and residents, verbal abuse, harassment, drunken behaviour, littering, and criminal damage, the court was told.

The intimidation included the use of a bladed article described as a "Rambo knife" and boiling oil.

The two women 'intimidated' people with a 'Rambo knife', the court heard

Ashford Borough Council secured both court orders under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, with proceedings supported by Kent Police.

As a result of the court orders, anyone found by police to be in the properties without authorisation is now committing a criminal offence.

If found guilty, potential trespassers could face imprisonment for up to 51 weeks or a fine.

The three-month closure means both homes are now only accessible to Ashford Borough Council staff and police officers.

Folkestone Magistrates' Court green-lit two closure orders for the properties last week

A spokesman for the council's housing team said: "This underlines that we have a zero-tolerance approach towards ASB.

"These properties have been at the root of persistent problems and nuisance to neighbours, with people visiting at all hours, drug dealing, and causing noise and intimidation.

"These issues make people's lives a misery and we hope the outcome of these cases will reassure our communities that we do not tolerate it and we will respond with appropriate action."

Council Chief Executive Tracey Kerly said: "I congratulate our Housing and Legal teams and everyone else involved in securing these two closure orders.

"This is a clear demonstration of how this behaviour will not be tolerated and that there are tools we can use to create some peace for our law-abiding communities."