Exeter business closed during anti-social behaviour crackdown

Shops, businesses and homes in Exeter were among dozens of properties shut down across Devon during 2025 as part of a long-term crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Police said closure orders were used to tackle issues including violence, drug-taking, dealing and verbal abuse, with the aim of protecting residents and restoring peace to affected neighbourhoods.

In Exeter, police and trading standards officers served a three-month closure order in November on the Mini Market in Cowick Street. Officers said the shop’s proprietor had ignored repeated warnings and continued to sell illegal tobacco worth more than £11,000, which was seized during five separate raids. Police also reported multiple attempts to flee with illicit goods.

The action in Exeter formed part of a wider county-wide operation led by Devon and Cornwall Police, working alongside councils, trading standards and other partner agencies throughout 2025.

Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez said in an end-of-year round-up: “Anti-social behaviour is a scourge on our society. I would urge people to keep reporting incidents to police as they do listen – and they will take action.”

Elsewhere in Devon, a three-month closure order was issued on a property in Newton Abbot to disrupt ongoing anti-social behaviour and suspected drug use and dealing. Police said the address had been linked to violence, verbal abuse towards neighbours, unsecured dogs running into the road and vehicles causing access issues for other residents.

In total, more than 50 full and partial closure orders and extensions have been issued across Exeter, Torquay and South Devon.

Ms Hernandez said: “ASB massively impacts hard-working, law-abiding people trying to go about their lives. Any behaviour that causes alarm, distress or has a detrimental impact on community safety will not be tolerated. That has been proven by how many closure orders have been issued in the past 14 months.

“Those causing ASB often have complex needs so an important part of closure orders is that while holding offenders accountable for their actions, police work with partners, such as housing providers, to ensure vulnerable people receive the help they need.”

Ms Hernandez is an elected police commissioner, a role which the government has decided to abolish as part of its wider reorganisation of local government. She has said she fears scrapping the role will make police less accountable to the public.