Plans to turn a Southend seafront guesthouse into a home for mentally ill patients have been met with fierce opposition from neighbours.

The Koinonia Trust has applied to Southend Council to convert the Arosa bed and breakfast in Eastern Esplanade, into a home for up to six mentally ill people.

Wendy Scotland, owner of the Beaches guesthouse nearby, said Southend already has a shortage of tourist accommodation.

She said: "We understand the application is for six mentally ill people living as a family. Nurses will visit to give medication every day but there will be no full-time supervision.

"This area is designated for hotels and guesthouses and, while I have sympathy for these people, it is not the right place for them.

"To take an eight-room guesthouse out of operation would only add to the tourist accommodation problems in Southend.

"This is not a case of 'not in my back yard' - the area is just not suitable."

Keith Young, managing director of Yachting Press, which is based nearby, said over recent years the quality of the area had gradually deteriorated because of the type of people housed there by the DSS.

In a letter to the council he said: "We have had numerous burglaries and have been forced to turn our building into a mini-fortress.

"The streets are constantly filthy with all sorts of kitchen rubbish which has been dumped outside some homes."

He added: "Quite frankly I am not happy for my staff to possibly be confronted by mentally unstable people.

"This is not to suggest that any of the people in the home would be violent, but unfortunately one never knows how such people behave until it is too late."

The Rev Roger Collins, development officer for the Koinonia Trust, said: "We provide permanent accommodation for those with a history of mental illness.

"We have had at least seven homes open in Southend and have not had any complaints so far. But if people think they have got something to complain about then I am quite willing to listen to what they have to say."

Nobody at the Arosa was available for comment.

Southend's development control committee will consider the plan on February 9.

Picture, top: Against plans - Wendy Scotland, owner of the Beaches guesthouse is worried that Southend already has a shortage of tourist accommodation

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