A PRIVATE firm running a hostel for suspected criminals will finally meet with council chiefs – a year after it opened.

Bosses from ClearSprings are due to hold talks with Pendle Council officers by the beginning of next week to discuss the fury over the hostel in Sackville Street, Nelson.

Angry residents said last week that the accomm-odation had opened last year without warning – even though ClearSprings is contractually bound to consult with councils and police.

And they claimed residents in the hostel had held rowdy barbecues and had been heard shouting and swearing in the street.

Now bosses from the firm, which manages the hostel for the Ministry of Justice, will meet with ward councillors, police, probation officers and staff from Pendle Council’s community safety team in a bid to defuse the row.

But Coun Eileen Ansar, whose Clover Hill ward covers Sackville Street, said: “I think the meeting is too late — they should have arranged it a year ago.

“We have wanted a meeting with ward councillors there because we want to see what they have to say.

“We have got three councillors in Clover Hill who are willing to speak for the public and our duty is to serve those residents.

“We would have demanded the meeting last year but we were not aware of the hostel then.”

A Pendle Council spokesman said the meeting would be arranged for later this week or the beginning of next week and would be held in Nelson.

The Lancashire Telegraph revealed earlier this year that several hostels – which are designed to house suspects on bail for “non-serious” offences – had opened in East Lancashire without the knowledge of councils.

But Justice Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw said ClearSprings was “contractually obliged” to consult with town halls and police before setting up the accommodation.