MAGISTRATES have called time on an illegal drinking den on Teesside.

Police have been involved in a cat and mouse game with the owner of the unlicensed Steampacket at St Hilda's, Middlesbrough, for years.

A squad of 12 Cleveland Police officers swooped on the unlicensed club in 2001, seizing bar optics, drinks, bar stools, tables, chairs, pictures, mirrors and lights, which were loaded on to a truck and taken away, together with the dismantled bars.

Late yesterday, the former shipping office was sealed up and all electricity supplied to the building, cut, after Teesside magistrates issued a closure order.

They awarded £1,300 costs against St Hilda's resident Terry Dixon, who police said was responsible for running the 3am to 7am operation.

Mr Dixon, who is leading a project to turn a piece of nearby waste ground into a recreation and sports area for children, vehemently denied he was behind the drinking den.

A spokesman for the Force's Licensing Unit said yesterday: "A closure order can be obtained for unlicensed premises under a section of the Criminal Justice and Police Act and we began to gather the evidence to put before the court.

"It is a basic industrial unit but inside it is fitted out like a pub with a bar and fridges, but there are no fire exits. The only means of escape if anything happened is a steel door that is bolted from the inside. It is an absolute death trap and we are very pleased to be closing it down for good.

"We hope this sends out a strong message to people in the area that they can not get away with such activities. They will be closed down permanently.''

Mr Dixon told The Northern Echo: "Where the police got my name from, I do not know; it has nothing to do with me.

"I had no intention of going to court, because it is nothing to do with me. It belongs to a gipsy, who they should be talking to, not persecuting an innocent person like me.''

It is understood the building, in Stockton Street, is being sold.