RESIDENTS reacted angrily to plans for a children's home in a Darwen terrace house at a public meeting last night.

More than 100 people were at St Barnabas' Church, Watery Lane, to discuss an planning application by business-woman Pauline Ainsworth to use the seven-bedroom property to provide four places for children referred by local authorities

Residents who have formed the Whitehall Action Group fear that dangerous offenders could be rehabilitated in the Whitehall Terrace house and could disrupt the area. But some local people accused the group of staging a one-sided debate.

Mrs Ainsworth did not attend, saying she did not want to drawn into a slanging match.

Local magistrate Austin Malloy warned that repeat offenders, with community sentences or custodial sentences, could be sent to the private home. "These are not boy scouts," he said.

Dorothy Riding, 41, whose daughter Fiona is disabled, would become neighbours to the youths in the house.

She said: "We moved there specifically to care for Fiona instead of having to put her in to care. If noise and disruption is bad we will be forced to down-size, move and put her into care."

Blackburn with Darwen council planning boss Chris Livesey said a decision could be taken by the end of November. It could only be rejected on grounds relating to environment and locality, along with a demonstrable link between fear of crime and the potential occupants. An assurance from the applicant that there would be no high-risk offenders would be "taken on face value."

So far 80 letters have been sent to the council regarding the youth home and 250 people have signed a petition.

In a letter read at the meeting, Mrs Ainsworth said she had been legally advised not to attend and had insufficient time to invite representatives from the Children's Society and the National Youth Advocacy Service.

She added: "I was disappointed that the meeting would not be chaired by an independent person and feel that it could not be fair."

Some residents said a chance to help children was being missed and accused speakers of creating a "worst case scenario slant".