A MAN has been arrested after a drugs raid on an elderly people’s block of flats.

The 27-year-old suspect was said to have ‘stood out like a sore thumb’ to his neighbours who are almost all pensioners.

Yesterday he was arrested in his dressing gown after police smashed down the door of a flat at 9am in the Fairhope Court estate, off Harcourt Road, Revidge, Blackburn.

Police said they found it 'surreal' when first presented with claims of drug dealing at a 'secluded location' where 'mainly the older generation' lived.

The first floor flat was searched by uniformed officers and detectives, who said they found a quantity of tablets, suspected to be Class A drugs, inside a plastic Kinder Egg shell.

A small amount of heroin was also recovered, police said.

Class A drug paraphernalia, including a tin foil and a smoking pipe, was also found in the kitchen, according to officers.

Residents of the quiet complex reacted in shock as around 10 officers flooded the narrow stairwell to carry out the raid.

One woman in her 80s, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It is so upsetting for people like us who come here to live a quiet life.

"I’m still shaking from it. It’s such a shock.

“I was having my breakfast when I heard a lot of banging. I opened my door to see all these police in the hallway.

“I did wonder what his job was because he kept strange hours, but he seemed a nice, polite lad.”

Her neighbour, also in her 80s, added: “I’m happy for something to be done because there has been a lot of people hanging around.

"We’ll certainly be talking about this at our next residents meeting.”

It is understood the man is a tenant and has been living in the flat since September 2009.

David Cooper, 68, the secretary of the residents' association, said: “He didn’t fit in.

"The majority of people here are elderly and own their flats."

Another resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: “He stood out like a sore thumb."

Community officers, a support unit and intelligence officers ducked under a window and surrounded the building, before swarming into the communal hallway and bursting into the suspect’s flat.

Community beat manager Gary Hennighan apologised to residents for the 'inconvenience and shock'.

He said: “It is such a secluded location with mainly an older generation, a young lad living here seems a bit odd in itself.

"When we get claims of drug dealing, it makes the situation a bit more surreal.

“Residents have raised concerns about a lot of activity and we have suspicions there has been dealing from this address."

PC Hennighan said suspected drugs were found inside the premises and that the 27-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.