`For sale: flat next to drug dealers' Candid estate agent shock

AN ESTATE AGENT was forced to apologise yesterday over a candid newspaper advert for a flat which highlighted the property's close proximity to drug dealers.

The description of the pounds 25,000 flat in Nailsea, near Bristol, which appeared in the Bristol Evening Post, read: "First-floor bedsit in generally good order. Drug dealers next door. Shops and local facilities nearby."

The advertisement, by Halifax Property Services, struck a raw nerve in an area which is notorious for a council-owned tower block called Crown House. The advertised flat is in a privately-owned block near by. John Alvis, who lives in the flats, said yesterday: "There are no drug dealers here. It all goes on next door. I've been here for five years and although things seem to be getting better Crown House is still the target for a lot of police activity over drugs."

Avon and Somerset Police confirmed the area was a drugs blackspot. A spokesman said: "We are aware of problems."

Jonathon Upton, of Halifax Property Services, played down the advert. "I understand there was some kind of mistake in the ad, but it doesn't seem to have put off prospective buyers. I am told the schools near by are good and it is generally seen as a nice, quiet area."