ACTION should be taken to stop landlords and hotel owners from turning a blind eye to drug dealers operating from their premises, an MP has said.

John Woodcock, the Barrow and Furness MP , spoke in Parliament yesterday to demand tougher measures to curb the practice known as “cuckooing”, in which drug dealers temporarily move into the home of a vulnerable person, typically a drug addict or person with learning difficulties, and deal from the address.

The independent MP led a Commons debate on drug trafficking and policy on the “county lines” phenomenon, where inner-city gangs use children to sell drugs in towns and villages across counties.

Mr Woodcock said there were growing reports of serviced apartments, budget hotels and caravan parks being used as bases from which to sell drugs.

He claims landlords are able to avoid conviction for allowing their property to be cuckoo-ed because the legal bar of proof is set too high - prosecutors must prove that a landlord had specific knowledge of drugs being dealt from his property.

Speaking at the debate, the MP said: “Too many landlords are getting fat off what is essentially drug money by adopting a ‘hear no evil, see no evil’ attitude to what goes on in the properties they rent out.

“Some clearly don’t care if vulnerable tenants are being preyed on by drug dealers or if their holiday lets are being misused as long as they get their rent.

“That is hugely damaging for the communities they are making a profit from and makes the job of the police much more difficult.

“If the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, is serious about getting on top of the spiralling scourge of county lines drug trafficking he should commit to lowering that standard of proof so landlords have a responsibility to act if there is reasonable suspicion that their property may be being used for cuckooing.”

The Crown Prosecution Service guidelines say prosecutions must prove the requisite level of knowledge - suspicion per se is not enough to constitute permission.

In the adjournment debate, the MP urged the Home Secretary to review and allow prosecution of landlords who fail to act on reasonable suspicion that their property was being misused.

On Friday, four people were jailed for almost 20 years for their part in a London-based group selling heroin and crack cocaine in Barrow, with gang members working from London, Preston and Manchester.

They brought drugs to around 100 customers in Barrow.

Between December and April, at least 12 people have died in the town of suspected drug overdoses.