Residents pack out bail hostel meeting

Furious residents packed into a meeting demanding a bail hostel opened in a quiet Black Country cul-de-sac without their knowledge be closed.

People living in Crawford Avenue, Smethwick, only discovered one of the houses was being used as a hostel when asked for directions by a new resident.

Under current guidelines if a unit houses less than six people there is no requirement for neighbours or even the local authority to be informed.

Today sources at Sandwell Council confirmed there are currently more than 100 people living in bail accommodation in the borough.

And there is nothing to stop hostels being set up in the same way in other parts of the West Midlands.

More than 50 people crammed into a meeting room at the Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre, in Smethwick, to call for the Crawford Avenue unit to be closed.

Residents say there has been a spate of shed burglaries since it was opened by private company Clearsprings on behalf of the MInistry of Justice on May 14.

Last night, people demanded rules be put in place to make sure residents are consulted over hostel plans in the future.

Resident Sarah Chandler, aged 37, assistant headteacher at Timbertree School and a mother of two, said: "We know these people need somewhere to go, but Crawford Avenue is not appropriate. It is a family estate with young children and vulnerable and elderly people living nearby."

Lynne Butler, 50, a secretary and mother of two, said: "We have had people knocking on doors requesting alcohol and begging for money."

Councillor Derek Rowley, cabinet member for safer communities on Sandwell Council chaired the meeting. He said: "I am disappointed that Clearsprings would not come to speak to local people about this."