Hundreds of people have called for a council to stop housing homeless people at a town centre hotel following a spate of crime.

A total of 505 people signed the petition asking Stoke-on-Trent City Council to stop using the Sneyd Arms in Tunstall in this way, and to disperse the people currently living at the hotel to 'more suitable locations'.

Former Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis, who started the petition, said that a recent spate of crime in the town centre, which saw businesses broken into and shops vandalised, was linked to individuals being housed at the Sneyd Arms by the council. The petition, which was formally presented to a meeting of the full council, states that if Tunstall is to be safe for businesses and shoppers, 'such a facility cannot exist in the heart of its town centre'.

The petition was started by former Stoke-on-Trent MP, Jonathan Gullis (Image supplied).

Mr Gullis was unable to attend the meeting, but Conservative group leader Dan Jellyman was allowed to speak on the petition on his behalf. Cllr Jellyman said the problems were being caused by single homeless males, some of whom had drink and drugs problems.

He said: "While we do not believe that the Sneyd Arms is a suitable venue for the local authority to temporarily house people, the local community and Jonathan do understand the urgent need for families to be housed in the facility when they are homeless.

"However, Stoke-on-Trent City Council chose to house single males with a number of drug and alcohol addiction problems, and that's when the issues started. The issues also led to others coming in to the town to take advantage of these single males, and increase the crime rates.

The petition says housing the homeless at Sneyd Arms is leading to an increase in crime (Google).

"More importantly, the families housed at the Sneyd Arms, some of which had babies in their care, felt unsafe and scared. The council has yet to be clear about whether they are removing single males from the Sneyd Arms. Doing so would help reduce criminality and help make the streets of Tunstall feel safer."

Cllr Jellyman said that Mr Gullis wanted the council to only use the Sneyd Arms to house families in emergency circumstances, but not single males, and work with local charities such as the Gingerbread Centre to support vulnerable people. Councillors voted to note the petition.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, infrastructure and regeneration, said: "As a city council, we will work incredibly hard to try and prevent people from getting into that dire position, either through drug abuse or alcohol abuse. We will work with the various agencies in the way that Jonathan suggested. We will do that not just for their benefit but to make all of our town centres safer."

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READ MORE: Stoke-on-Trent pub granted permission to 'improve the functionality of the building'

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