A hotel long used by councils for temporary accommodation has generated nearly 250 police callouts in the past five years.
Figures from Norfolk Constabulary reveal that officers were dispatched to the NR19 Hotel in Dereham 73 times this year alone - an average of more than one and a half calls a week.
The hotel, at the head of the town's Market Place, has been referred to as a “dumping ground” for ex-offenders by councillors and a “prison” by some of those living inside.
Locals have complained about antisocial behaviour in the Grade-II listed building’s vicinity for years.
The new figures - obtained via a Freedom of Information request - show that police calls-outs to NR19 have more than quadrupled since 2020.
The most frequent reason for a call-out last year was for “suspicious circumstances” - logged 20 times - compared with just five such incidents in 2021.
Overall, there were 73 calls between January to September this year, 59 in 2024, 47 in 2023, 35 in 2022, 19 in 2021 and 16 in 2020 - a total of 249.
Rob Jamieson, a Reform town councillor, said the data showed a “very worrying increase”.
“Explanations and action to reverse this trend are needed now,” he said.
The rise follows a report in June revealing that more than 100 ex-offenders had been housed in the town in the past year.
Norfolk Constabulary declined to release comparable call out data for 14-16 Market Place, which has also attracted controversy in recent months.
It was used by councils for temporary accommodation for more than a year between 2024 and 2025.
Those who have lived inside the flats described them as "botched from top to bottom", and have told of regular police visits and general unsafe conditions.
Breckland Council said its reliance on the NR19 Hotel had “reduced considerably" and that it intended to invest in council-owned temporary accommodation.
“We have an expectation that all residents behave in an appropriate way,” a spokesman said.
“When that is not the case we work closely with police and other partners to tackle crime and support community cohesion.”
“As a housing authority, Breckland Council has a duty to place people who are homeless and have certain specified needs into temporary accommodation.
“NR19 remains one of a number of sites in the district considered suitable for this purpose.”
The council said it does not place families at the hotel, although it is understood that other authorities, including Norwich City Council, have housed single mothers with young children inside.
Concerns about the hotel come amid mounting complaints about crime in Dereham’s centre.
Recent incidents include vandalism of the town’s war memorial and an episode in which the landlady of the Cherry Tree pub confronted a knife-wielding man who allegedly threatened to kill a member of staff.
Breckland neighbourhood officer Simon Jones described the Market Place as a “hotspot” for crime.
“Dereham town centre, including the Market Place, is one of our hotspot policing areas,” he said. “We are doing visible foot patrols whenever we can.”
“We appreciate that we can’t be there all the time but we will continue to keep this area as a focus – particularly for our neighbourhood teams and local beat managers.”
Streetwatch, an online crime tracker, recorded 83 offences in the Market Place in September, including violent and sexual offences, shoplifting, criminal damage and antisocial behaviour.
It described the number of offences in the area as “high”.
StreetScan, another crime rate monitoring service, states that the amount of crime in Dereham as a whole is 2.31 times higher than national levels.
Tony Burlingham, the owner of NR19, has repeatedly declined to comment when approached by this newspaper.
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