Residents' delight as hostel goes

From the Bolton Evening News, first published Wednesday 12th May 2004.

RESIDENTS living near a Bolton bail hostel which had become a drugs den have welcomed its closure.

Police this week used new powers to close Marlborough House bail hostel in Halliwell. It will remain boarded up for at least 90 days under the new Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003.

People living nearby the Marlborough Street hostel celebrated the move, ordered by Bolton magistrates, claiming it had brought a drug culture into the neighbourhood.

A newsagent worker said that drug dealers had been attracted to the area and dirty needles were often found in the streets.

He said: "They came into the shop with needles sticking out of their pockets. It is really dangerous when children pick up these needles.

"If police are closing the hostel, there must be a reason."

Neighbour, Farzana Javed, of Gower Street, said: "They start smashing cars when they are drunk."

During one eight-hour surveillance period, police observed 30 visitors to the hostel, some arriving in stolen vehicles. Businesses in the area say they have also been affected by those living in the hostel.

The closure has meant 18 men - mostly aged in their 30s, but also including a 78-year-old - were forced out of the hostel.

Three of them will be rehoused by Bolton Council while the other 15 were offered places at an outreach centres as a stopgap before finding permanent accommodation.

Some of the evicted residents told the Bolton Evening News of their disappointment.

Clive Humphries, aged 31, said: "This hostel has been brilliant for us. It has taken us off the streets. I am gutted."

Paul Williamson, aged 41, and a self- confessed heroin user, hailed the efforts of hostel owner Gladys McDonald. He said: "She's like a second mother to us. She deserves a medal. This will just push people like us out onto the streets."

Mrs McDonald and her husband, Robert, do not intent to reopen the hostel after the 90-day closure.

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