RESIDENTS are opposing moves to reopen an all-night caf which they fear will become a meeting place for prostitutes and their punters.

Romeo's Caf, in Hartington Road, Middlesbrough, currently serves food in the daytime and evening, but father and son Kyriacos and Matthew Christou have applied for a late-night refreshment licence to allow the venue to open 24 hours a day.

They say the caf will be mainly used for dancing and socialising by the Greek, Turkish, Asian and Kurdish community, and by business people who work unsociable hours.

But residents claim that when the caf had an all-night licence in the past it used to attract vice girls and kerb crawlers to the area.

Cleveland Police also oppose the application, because they say the site has "a history of sheltering prostitutes".

Edna Donnelly, chairman of the Newport Residents' Association and St Hilda's Community Council, said in a letter to Middlesbrough Council that the caf had "consistently attracted" prostitutes for the past 20 years.

"For many years we have lived side by side with prostitution and it was simply a case of acceptance," she said.

"Residents also accepted that Romeo's was where these women, punters and pimps would congregate throughout the night.

"The women that used to work this area were approachable and willing to compromise. Drugs were not the driving force of crime."

However, she said that drugs had changed the face of prostitution, to the disgust of residents.

"Residents in Newport are asking that the council grants them the right to be able to walk in their area without the fear and the reality of crime, which they know with certainty will arise if this licence is granted," she said.

In another letter of objection, Pam Gaskill, on behalf of Cleveland Police's legal department, said there was a continuing problem of the caf being "frequented by common prostitutes".

"There is a considerable likelihood that these premises will be used as a meeting point for prostitutes, kerb crawlers and other types of criminal," she said. "Kyriacos Christou has failed to work with police with regard to crime prevention."

The application will go before the council's licensing committee on Monday.

Caf owner Idirs Suleyman said he and the applicants denied the allegations, but would not comment further until after the meeting