IT STINKS! That was the verdict of more than 100 residents who failed last night in their bid to stop a homeless shelter being built on their doorstep in Fareham.

Angry scenes erupted at Fareham's civic offices when residents heard councillors had agreed to allow the conversion of a former pub on Gosport Road into a shelter for the homeless.

Insults were hurled at members of the planning committee after a narrow vote in favour of the application, with residents outraged at the prospect of becoming neighbours of the shelter.

Throughout the heated debate, that had to be moved to the mayoral chamber to accommodate numbers, planning committee chairman David Swanbrow was forced to call for order and even threatened to clear the chamber if the heckling continued.

The committee heard from residents who spoke out against the application for the 16-bed unit saying it would affect their quality of life if it were allowed to relocate from its current premises on Kings Road.

Dennis Steadman, a Mill Road resident, quoted the council's own community strategy highlighting its pledge to treat residents with fairness, dignity and respect. He said the council would fail in its objectives if this application were allowed.

Resident Martin Budd asked the council if they would compensate homeowners for the loss of value on their properties if the application went through.

He said: "I would like to know if the budget of Fareham Council could cope with the number of blight orders that residents could serve if this went ahead."

A number of councillors including county representative Ray Ellis also spoke in support of the residents. He said: "I think members of the planning committee should ask themselves would they want this built next to their homes - let us do for others what we would do for ourselves."

The meeting also heard from principal engineer Sandra Hill who revealed that a road sign warning motorists of a narrow walkway which would form part of the application had already been ordered.

But members of the committee insisted there were no substantial planning reasons why the application should be rejected.

Councillor Arthur Mandry said: "When it comes down to it, it is the people who will be living inside the building that the residents object to. They talk about fairness, dignity and respect but that also applies to the homeless, they have a right to those things too.

"There are suggesting that the homeless are all drug takers, alcoholics and a threat to our children, that is an insult to the unemployed and those who have nowhere to live."

After the majority vote in favour of the application the crowd turned on the members and began chanting "It's a fix" from the public gallery.

Outside residents spoke of their disgust at the outcome. Mill Road resident Anne Firth, who is currently selling her home, said: "It just stinks. It's not that we don't appreciate the needs of the homeless but the way the whole thing has gone through is wrong. I will be surprised if any of the offers we have been given for our home go through now."