Raoul Moat left a £9,000 bill to taxpayers for repairs and renovations to the property he kitted out with surveillance equipment.

After turning his gun on himself, his former Newcastle home became a sinister symbol of the disturbed bouncer's murderous gun spree as his followers turned the site into a shrine.

But just weeks after one of Britain's largest man-hunts ended in Rothbury, Northumberland, housing officers moved in, clearing the site and splashing out almost £9,000 to bring the house up to scratch so it could be re-let.

Net curtains were hung in the windows and a freshly-mown lawn replaced the once sprawling mess of overgrown weeds and children's toys as any trace of its former inhabitant were erased.

For the three years before he went on the rampage last summer, murderer Moat lived in Fenham Hall Drive, for a time with his gun-blast victim Sam Stobbart, as a Your Homes Newcastle tenant.

During his time there he made a number of alterations to the property before leaving it in a state of disarray after wounding former lover Miss Stobbart in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, and killing her new boyfriend Chris Brown, 29, and going on the run from police.

Next day he blinded Pc David Rathband, 42, after shooting him in the face as he sat in a patrol car in East Denton, Newcastle.

Former neighbours of the dad-of-three described him as being paranoid, with cameras and microphone equipment wired throughout the house. They claimed he made his own diesel fuel at the property left deserted along with two pit bull terriers on July 3 as he went on the rampage.

Now figures reveal almost £3,000 was forked out on repairs after Moat's complaints to his landlords with a further £8,922 needed to bring the property up to a "lettable standard" after his death.

Repairs by YHN, an arm's length organisation overseen by Newcastle City Council, included more than £1,200 for a new communal fence and £271 for a new back door.

A month before Moat went on his shooting spree he was charged £1,282 by YHN for work to reinstate an external wall and remove a concrete ramp he'd built at the front entrance of the house.

He'd been charged the full amount after altering the property without consent.

Allison Hodgson, head of Housing Management, said: "When tenants end their tenancy they are required, under the terms of their tenancy agreement, to clear the property. Obviously this was not possible on this occasion.

"Combined, the clearance and improvement work cost considerably more than we would normally expect to spend on a vacant property of this size and type, but did allow us to bring a family home back into use quickly. Demand for this location and size of property is very high and the property was relet within six weeks."