September 3, 2019 5.07 pm This story is over 54 months old

Drug dealers fuel 30% crime spike in Lincoln Ermine

It comes after shots were fired on the estate last week

Lincolnshire Police are fighting drug dealers on the Ermine estate in Lincoln and said that crime has spiked by 30% in the area overall when compared to the same time just last year.

It comes after neighbours reported noises “consistent with gun shots” in Scopwick Place at around 9.45pm on Thursday, August 29.

Armed police later attended a property on the Ermine on Friday, August 30 at around 7pm and initially arrested three men.

Five men have now been arrested and bailed, but Nigel Key, the Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for the area, has urged two more men to come forward.

One of the men, a 50-year-old, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm as well as intent to supply a class B drug, cannabis.

One of the two men being arrested

He told The Lincolnite: “We are currently looking for two more men in connection with Scopwick Place. We know who they are and they know who they are.

“In the Ermine area some crimes have gone up and some have gone down but overall crime has gone up by 30% when compared to the same time last year.”

When asked about a possible turf war on the Ermine estate the police officer, with over 28 years in experience, said that drug dealers were moving into the area.

Scene guards will remain in place into the morning

Inspector Nigel Key continued:

“I think that it’s understandable that people are shocked, but I don’t think that the Ermine is the ghetto that some people are making it out to be.

“In reality, incidents like Scopwick Place where shots have been fired is a rarity for the area and I want to reassure people that it is still a safe place to live.

“We want to urge anyone with information to come forward in the strictest confidence.”