OFFICERS policing a three-month closure order on a Chippenham drugs den "obviously" wouldn't arrest a three-year-old, a court heard.

Magistrates heard that gangs had taken advantage of toddler's mum.

Class A addict Shannon Graham was also involved in the supply of hard drugs and had recently been found by police with a large amount of cocaine.

Magistrates were told that officers couldn’t be sure if Miss Graham was the victim of coercion or selling drugs of her own free will. But drug dealing from the house was having an impact on the area.

Asked by magistrates if Miss Graham’s three-year-old needed to be named on the closure order, Wiltshire Police's PC Mike Diffin said officers took a common-sense approach to policing.

“We obviously wouldn’t go in and arrest a three-year-old," he said.

The home on Milbourne Way that Miss Graham shares with her young daughter has been sealed up for three-months by order of Swindon magistrates.

Only Miss Graham, immediate family, her landlord and 999 crews can go into the home. Anyone else caught in the house risks arrest.

PC Mike Diffin, making the closure order application on behalf of Wiltshire Police, said: “This will allow her mother and sister to support her. It will give Miss Graham the opportunity to have a look at her life.”

The authorities were looking at whether Miss Graham could be moved to another area, he added.