A HOUSE offering accommodation to homeless youngsters in Bentham should be closed down, councillors said this week.

Bentham Town Council heard there were still problems with noise and disturbance at the house in Main Street run by the charity Training and Housing for Youth in North Craven (THYNC).

Matters came to a head last summer when THYNC administrators got together with neighbours and councillors to try to resolve the problems.

The THYNC Project aims to provide supported accommodation to vulnerable young people with a local connection who are homeless or in housing need.

Central to arguments was THYNC's original undertaking to have a responsible adult tenant in the property, something which had never happened because the charity had been unable to find anyone suitable for the position.

Now, residents have complained to Bentham Town Council that there are still problems, to the extent that one neighbour has started installing his own indoor sound proofing.

Coun John Pilkington said he had also received complaints about excess noise at the THYNC property, but he urged members to be lenient.

"They have been trying very hard to get the right sort of person to be a responsible tenant, but there's nobody willing to do it," he said.

But Coun Tim Stannard added: "It is over the top when you try to soundproof your house from the inside. This has gone on too long. The fact that they can't staff it isn't our problem. It is not being run in an acceptable manner."

Mayor Coun Thomas Marshall said: "I've said before we should try and close it down. It is upsetting residents in the surrounding properties and we should suggest they remove the residents until it is run as it was promised to be run in the first place."

Nick Whiteley-Grice, THYNC project manager said: "Our records indicate we have only had one complaint since November 2002, which was resolved by a housing support worker out of hours. Unfortunately we have not been advised of additional difficulties and it is difficult for us to resolve problems that we are not made aware of.

"In a further effort to build our relationships with neighbours of the property we have discussed with them a garden project for which we are attempting to secure a small amount of funding. This project would be of direct benefit to adjacent properties," he said.

"Since its inception, over 95 per cent of tenants at this property have been successfully engaged in training, education or employment. If the project were to close this could potentially render vulnerable young people homeless and present the usual problems associated with social exclusion."