RESIDENTS have been assured that a former residential home will not be used to house paedophiles.

The former Queensmead residential home, Greens Lane, Hartburn, Stockton, has been bought by ARC Healthcare, a company based at Colchester.

The company plans to turn the building into a residential support home for adults with mental illness.

But concern has been expressed that this would mean dangerous people were living close to a school and people's homes.

One of ARC's directors, John Elster, said: "I can categorically state there will not be any paedophiles, or anyone with a history of sex offending, there. I can give that as a cast-iron guarantee.

"The people we house will be policed through social services and health authorities before they come to us, and then we have our own veto policy."

Mr Elster said the elderly people who were previously in the home also had mental illnesses, so the only difference with the new plan was in the age of the residents.

He said that most of the 18 men and women who will be housed in the home would be working to return to the community.

Mr Elster said: "We want to establish a relationship between our residents and the community.

"These are people who have had breakdowns or depression and need support before they can think of returning to the community.

"We are not talking about severely mentally ill people. They would all eventually like to live in the community, but need support first."

A public meeting was held in Hardwick recently to allow residents to talk about their fears, but that has failed to reassure some of those opposed to the plan.

One householder said: "Loc-al residents have a genuine concern with regard to the safety of their children being compromised by this proposal.

"The proposed site is within ten metres of a nursery and infant school and the proposed site will share an entrance with a house where there is at least one young child living."

Work is excepted to start on the house in the next two to three weeks and the first residents could be housed after Christmas.

A spokeswoman for Stockton Borough Council, which granted planning consent for the home, said permission would not have been given if there was considered to be a danger to residents.