THE much awaited independent report about the closure of the Beechwood Lodge homeless hostel was published on Tuesday.

It was instigated by the deputy leader of the council Rob Donnelly in February following reports of the deaths of four former residents, which drew much criticism from homeless campaigners and Basingstoke MP Andrew Hunter.

Frank Rust, the current chairman of the North Hampshire Community Health Council, conducted the review.

His report highlighted the lack of co-ordination between statutory agencies.

At a press conference on Tuesday he said: "Beechwood Lodge was a disaster waiting to happen. The mixture of people in it should never had been there in the first place."

Speaking about the way agencies handled the closure of the hostel, he said : "Overall I have got to say they did a good job, although the closing process could have been shorter and it could have been handled better."

In the report he said a large number of residents with complex needs was always going to be difficult to re-house, but there ought to have been better planning to identify resources at a more strategic level between Basingstoke council, Stonham Housing and Hampshire County Council, and that the Housing Corporation could have taken a more proactive leadership role.

He also said there was some lack of focus from Stonham Housing, while residents should have be consulted more in the moving process.

Mr Rust said some residents were slipping through the net because they were not meeting criteria for certain agencies and that procedures lacked individual care plans for some vulnerable people.

He said: "When we get a big event like this, somewhere at a higher strategic level, someone should take an overview."

For the latest on this story see The Gazette on Friday