AN MP says he will sleep at a proposed hostel for ex-offenders in Winchester to calm fears of residents battling against it.

Householders in Highcliffe lobbied their city MP Mark Oaten to urge him to support their campaign to block the controversial scheme for Fivefields Road.

Mr Oaten gave them qualified backing but said he supported in principle the idea of hostels for ex-prisoners as a way of breaking the cycle of offending.

He added he would be prepared to sleep at the hostel to reassure residents if he decided to back it.

The Daily Echo joined the residents as they attended Mr Oaten's surgery at his offices in City Road last Friday.

Mr Oaten told the group: "I can't say I don't support these schemes. There's evidence these hostels do stop reoffending. For me as a politician the easy answer would be to say 'shut these people away'.

"This is a difficult dilemma. Putting this hostel in Highcliffe, the area with most difficulties, does trouble me."

He told them: "If I come to the conclusion that this is the right place I will tell you that and you can vote me out at the next election.

"If push comes to shove I will sleep there myself for a couple of nights to reassure you."

The plans, drawn up by Eastleigh Housing Association and Southampton-based Two Saints, are due to be considered by council chiefs next month. Mr Oaten said he supported the residents over a ban on sex offenders and murderers living there.

Residents are particularly angry that the city council secretly planned the hostel in 2001 and held a sham 'community planning' exercise that purported to identify sites for social housing. Resident Major Cassidy said feelings were running high: "A prominent member of the community, who I shan't name, has talked about civil unrest. That is a very serious statement. If the project goes ahead the people who will suffer, apart from local people, are the hostel residents. Everything that goes wrong in Highcliffe will be blamed on them."

Emma Stevens of Fivefields Road said: "My little boy knows he is not going to be safe in his own back garden. He has nightmares about people climbing in to his bedroom and taking him away."

Pauline Goodenough, of Nelson Road, said: "The council has treated us as a bunch of idiots. Highcliffe is such a fantastic place.

"We don't want people like this."