CONCERNED residents packed Weyhill Fairground Hall for the chance to hear why Andover needed a secure unit for the mentally ill.

MP Sir George Young called the public meeting so that residents could listen to Dr Sayed Bel-Barco, director of operations of Covenant Healthcare, talk of a proposal to turn the derelict former hotel near Weyhill into a secure unit for the mentally ill.

Dr Bel-Barco said his company chose the site because there was a need for this type of facility in Andover and that it will provide job opportunities for caters, nurses and cleaners.

He said: "We have identified there is a need for such facility in the south of England and in Andover in particular.

"A lot of patients suffering from mental health problems are sent away from the area where they come from, some are sent as far as Scotland. One in five of us could well be in one of these buildings sometime in their life."

Trying to reassure residents Dr Bel-Barco said the proposed unit would be a low-level secure unit and cater for patients suffering from severe and enduring mental illness or disorder, or who have challenging behaviour and require treatment and rehabilitation.

This type of unit will not house paedophiles, patients with sexual related offences, and patients with a history of organised crime or terrorists offences.

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser.