Calls to shut hostel after arrest

People in a Black Country town are demanding a bail hostel be shut after one of its residents was arrested in connection to a sexual assault.

People living near the Stonnall Road hostel in Aldridge, Walsall, said they wanted to know what sort of people were being housed there.

They have now set up an e-petition on the Downing Street website calling for it to be closed.

West Midlands Probation Service said there were no plans to shut it.

Ward councillor Mike Flower said he was also petitioning the government to find out what offences people staying at the hostel were being bailed for.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Probation Service confirmed a resident from the bail hostel was arrested by police on 28 August and was held overnight in custody on suspicion of sexual assault.

Police said the person was later released on bail pending further inquiries.

'Main aims'

A statement issued by the probation service said: "He was then recalled to prison the following morning and the matter is now subject to a police investigation.

"Stonnall Approved Premises accommodates offenders who have served the custodial part of their sentence and have been released on licence from prison after a full risk assessment. We are unable to confirm the details of individual cases."

The statement added that keeping communities safe was one of the probation service's "main aims".

It said: "Approved premises are safer for the public than the alternative which is to disperse offenders in the community, making supervision less effective, more costly and more dangerous for the public.

"There are no plans to close the hostel."