ALMOST 90 people in and around Tosside have signed a petition stating their strong objections after a resident was overlooked for a local house.

The petition, which has been handed to Ribble Valley Council, was begun after Sanctuary Housing Association, which manages six houses at The Plantation in Tosside, let a vacant property to a tenant from outside the area, when a local person had made an application.

James Waddington, of Skirden Hall Farm, Tosside, explained that his son Matthew had applied for the tenancy of number 2 The Plantation after it became vacant.

He said the family filled in an application form and posted it to Sanctuary Housing long before the deadline of April 14.

Mr Waddington said he heard nothing from Sanctuary despite several phone calls - one which confirmed the form had been received. They then learned that Ribble Valley Council had nominated a potential tenant who had been given the keys to the property on April 22.

He said he had since been informed his son was not offered a house because his name was not on Sanctuary's housing list.

"When we requested the application form we were not told about this and in the application pack there was no mention of needing to be on a housing list," said Mr Waddington. "These houses were built under the Rural Housing for Rural People scheme and 89 people have signed a petition to say they are disgusted that a local person has been overlooked for a house in favour of someone from out of the area."

He added that he was now following a complaint's procedure over the way the issue had been handled.

Christine Grimshaw, housing manager for Ribble Valley Council said the petition was discussed at last week's meeting of the housing committee.

"During the meeting the committee agreed to arrange to get together with Sanctuary, the parish council and a representative from this council and create a proper protocol that everyone was happy with," she said.

Bob Wilson, regional director for Sanctuary Housing Association, acknowledged a mistake had been made. He said: "I fully understand the concerns of the villagers and others about what appears to have happened.

"However, I wish to reassure everyone that Sanctuary will continue to honour our commitment to first meeting the needs of the local community when we let properties in the village.

"Concerning the allocation of the property that has brought about this complaint, it has been fully investigated. We can find no trace of a particular application having been received. The person dealing with this matter wrongly believed that an application had been received and told the relative and for this we have apologised.

"Having exhausted the waiting list we allocated the property to someone else from outside the area as the agreement with the council allows us to.

"Lessons have been learnt leading us to make more publicly available the procedure for being considered for any further vacancies of our properties in the village.

"I am happy to supply anyone with a copy and sincerely hope that we can maintain our close relationship with the community and the parish council."