Police and housing group Places for People took action after residents at Fell View said their lives were being ruined by anti-social behaviour.

The occupants of the ground floor flat - a homeless man and a woman - had claimed squatters' rights soon after moving in.

Places for People secured a possession order last week and gave the pair 24 hours to move out.

The flat was boarded up as part of a police operation on Monday (July 7) and is said to have been empty for months before the squatters moved in.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "They were very noisy.and I heard them having fights once or twice.

"The door got broken down once and there was a lot of noise in general.

"I think they were for two or three months and I used to see a woman going in and out with her baby."

Gavin Daw, Community Beat Manager for Chorley East, said: "The people who were living at the address where regular drug users who were suspected of dealing drugs from the property..

"There was drugs paraphernalia used to inject drugs outside the door of the flat that people had found.

"A squat is quite unusual in the area but this flat had been empty for a while and I believe the previous occupant had left it unlocked.

"The man and the woman were living there for around two weeks before we took action."

A spokesman for Places for People said: "Staff acted quickly to ensure that the squatters were removed from the property and hope that the residents of Fell View can continue without the nuisance and concern this incident has caused."