Homeless hostel to be shut down

Concerns have also been raised about conditions inside the building

An emergency homeless hostel where the death of a resident went unnoticed for nearly two days is to be shut down, the BBC has learned.

Bristol City Council told the Inside Out West programme it was now in talks to close the Victoria Street hostel.

The hostel, a temporary facility on a run-down city centre site, has been managed by English Churches Housing Group (ECHG) for the past eight years.

Concerns over its suitability have been raised, but ECHG insists it is safe.

However, it accepted that a member of staff's failure to carry out an inspection had allowed a dead resident's body to go undiscovered, in 2007, from a Thursday night until the following Saturday morning.

Hostel 'vulnerable'

That member of staff has since been dismissed.

Concerns have also been raised about conditions inside the building and the provision and maintenance of fire safety measures there.

Adair Lewis, of the Fire Protection Association, said: "From a fire safety point of view, this hostel is vulnerable.

"Obviously they have taken steps to make things better but there is quite a way to go."

The hostel has been inspected by the fire service, which found its fire safety management was now well above average.

Mark Nightall, ECHG's director of supported housing, said: "As with any fire report there will always be things that can be improved. We have said 'yes, we will improve those things'.

"We've already done an awful lot of those things... but the overall result of that inspection was something that was really positive and we are pleased with that."

Questions have also been asked about the time some residents had spent in the hostel, where the ideal stay is just six months.

'Decommissioning facility'

One resident had been allowed to stay for two-and-a-half years.

Alan Goddard, of the Crisis Centre Ministries, said: "Somebody staying in a hostel for two-and-a-half years is totally unacceptable.

"A hostel is designed for you to be there temporarily and move on into independent living."

ECHG said that last year it successfully moved 43 people out of the hostel. Only two people that live there now have been there for more than six months.

Mr Nightall added ECHG was funded to allow residents to stay at the hostel for up to two years.

A spokesman for Bristol City Council said: "...the venue was only ever seen as a temporary measure until other commissioned services to come on stream.

"We are currently in talks with ECHG over the decommissioning of this facility."

The full story features on Inside Out West on BBC One West region at 1930 GMT.