FIVE families face eviction from a council-run centre for the homeless in York after residents reported a catalogue of alleged disturbances.

Angry Fulford householders say that the behaviour of some residents of the Ordnance Lane hostel, near Fulford Road Police Station, has been "horrendous".

They fear that disturbances, said to include threats, vandalism and late-night noise problems, will continue to increase, making their lives a misery and affecting businesses.

But council officers say they have already taken action to improve the situation by bringing in a private security company and serving eviction notices on five families.

The council said the security company would take prompt action before incidents got so serious as to be a police matter.

Linda Williams, 31, who lives in Ordnance Lane with her three children, aged between seven and ten, said it had been a "total nightmare" since she moved into the street two months ago.

Mrs Williams is among those being evicted, but she said her family was not to blame for the trouble.

She realised that there were problems caused by residents of the street, but she tried to teach her children the difference between right and wrong and tried to keep them away from troublemakers. She said if there was a meeting of residents to discuss the disturbances, then the residents of her street should have been invited too.

More than 40 people attended an emergency meeting with council officers, councillors and York MP Hugh Bayley to complain about the residents' alleged conduct and discuss solutions.

Guest house owner Olga Shepherdson, of Wenlock Terrace, said council officers may not have realised the extent of the "horrendous" problem.

She said: "It's typically British. We have had this problem for a long time and nobody has done anything as they have been waiting for somebody else to act. We've suffered vacuum cleaners being thrown from attic windows, children throwing stones and breaking windows while drinking and being out into the early hours."

Mrs Shepherdson said she had lost hundreds of pounds in business as guests, some of whom had been threatened with violence, left her guest house.

Lesley Healey, head of advice and housing assessment at City of York Council, said the anger of residents was understandable. She said the council was looking at increasing staffing at the hostel, which is staffed from 8am to 8pm.

"We have given notices to quit to five households, some of which have children, and they have four weeks to leave," she said

Fishergate councillor John Boardman said there had been a "considerable escalation" of incidents at the hostel over the past few weeks and that the meeting became "quite heated" at times.

He said: "We have promised to look into the residents' complaints carefully and take whatever short-term action we can as soon as possible." Mr Bayley said: "There have been serious problems in the neighbourhood caused by a small number of homeless people.

"The vast majority of homeless people are law-abiding like anyone else, but the council rightly is taking action to evict those families that don't stick to the rules.

"People may have the right to housing, but they have a responsibility to act decently. I am asking the council to improve security in the area until the problem is solved."

Updated: 15:02 Thursday, August 01, 2002