Bailiffs had to fight through a barricade of sofas and wooden planks nailed across the door to get in to a wrecked flat at Greenups Mill, Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge.
Owner Andrew Webster said the kitchen worksurfaces were covered in needles among empty pizza boxes and broken mugs.
Dozens of handbags, computers, bikes, cameras and laptops – all thought to be stolen – were piled floor to ceiling throughout the £390-a-month home.
A machete handle and several blades were scattered in the plush waterside apartment.
In the bathroom he discovered a bath overflowing with bike tyres, smashed furniture, and a floor littered with clothing, a picture frame and more handbags.
Mr Webster, who moved to Keighley, last year, said: "I loved this flat and I couldn't bear to sell up so I kept it and thought it would be hassle free to rent out but this has been a nightmare.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life.
"It was a scene of utter degradation. I didn't even want to go in, there were so many needles all over the floor."
The 37-year-old computer programmer who lived in the flat for seven years before leasing it last December could now be left with a cleaning bill for thousands of pounds.
He only managed to get rid of the three tenants – a man, his teenage girlfriend and their baby – after they went seven months without paying rent. It took Mr Webster five months to get a court order to have them evicted.
"I inspected the flat in February and it was already in an absolutely disgusting state but it has taken me this long to get a court date to get an eviction order. I feel bad for people who live near by because they have had a terrible time."
Terrified neighbours, all too scared to be identified, said the couple had an endless stream of visitors coming to the flat, often queueing in the communal corridors. Several said they had been threatened or woken by loud banging throughout the night.
An inspector for Whitegates, the estate agents which let the flat for Mr Webster, said: "This is the worst state I've ever seen a place in."
He refused to enter the flat after going in once.
Police are investigating. A spokesman said they would be trying to identify what items could be proven to be stolen and be returning any identifiable property to its owners.
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