Renewed action has been promised to shutdown Bermuda?s crack houses.

New Attorney General Philip Perinchief said that previous warnings about clampdowns have been slowed by legal problems.

?We had to search through some of the existing laws to see if we could utilise those,? he said, adding that new laws or amendments would now be needed to tackle the issue.

Asked about the scale of the problem, the Attorney General said: ?We think the problem is more extensive than we thought.?

But he assured residents living near such properties ? used for drug dealing or using ? that help was on the way and added: ?We are certainly going to see some movement.?

Mr. Perinchief said that planning laws were being examined to see whether crack-houses should be demolished or could be renovated. In August, former Minister of National Drug Control Wayne Perinchief said Government?s vow to close 17 known crack-houses had stalled because it lacked the necessary legal powers.

Only six crack-houses have been closed, he revealed, three of which were not on the original list of 17.

To close them, Government used a housing act which allowed it to close vacant and derelict homes, but that act was of little use for tackling dealers operating out of ordinary houses in respectable areas.