FELMORES bail hostel, which acts as a halfway house for high risk offenders released from prison, is staying put.

Basildon Council leader Andrew Baggott has revealed the council will not actively pursue plans to move the site - unless an “ideal opportunity” presents itself.

This has infuriated campaigners who have spent years calling for the bail hostel to be moved away from two nearby schools, Northlands Park, and a densely populated residential.

One mum, who asked not to be named, said: “It really does make me feel on edge. A lot of people have campaigned for a long time, so this is a major set back, and very disappointing.

“I know a lot of residents do not feel good about it being there.”

In 2015, Basildon Council leader Phil Turner, urged the Ministry of Justice to move the hostel, but the Government department insisted it was the council’s responsibility to find a new site.

Mr Baggott told the Echo: “This project has been going on for ten years, and we have had no movement.

“We had already been in contact with the probation service for two years previously at that point.

“I am very sympathetic to the residents and their complaints, we moved heaven and earth to look into this, but without a huge amount of money to build a new site, there is nothing else suitable in the borough.

“In reality, where ever the hostel is there will be complaints, what needs addressing is the probation service, and the way the people living in these hostels are handled and treated.”

The latest council budget included plans for a consultation, but Mr Baggott insisted any consultation would not produce new results.