AN ANGRY architect has placed protest signs outside a former homeless centre which is scheduled for demolition – asking people to call York’s political leader if they are looking for rubble.

Matthew Laverack – a critic of the decision to close the Peaseholme Centre to make way for City of York Council’s ultimately abandoned new headquarters project at Hungate – put up the banners on the gates outside the building on Thursday.

The Stonebow building has been empty since a new homeless hostel was opened in Fishergate last year, and is due to be bulldozed to prevent it being vandalised, with the cleared site then due to be redeveloped.

But the move has been branded a waste of money in some quarters, and Mr Laverack, an architect based in Lord Mayor’s Walk, has now put up the signs saying anybody interested in having rubble delivered should contact the council’s leader Andrew Waller – whose telephone number is included – directly.

One of the banners reads: “A monument to mismanagement. Why demolish it? Because it is an embarrassing reminder of failure and fiasco.”

And the other sign says: “Available soon: brick rubble – tons of it. No reasonable offer refused”.

Mr Laverack has previously condemned the decision to close and knock down the two-storey hostel as “utterly deplorable” and called for it to be used to provide accommodation for young people struggling to afford their own homes.

Coun Waller said: “This area is a prime site for the relocation of Civil Service jobs to York and we are looking to the long-term future of the city, which is what the council’s executive agreed many months ago. We are actively promoting this as a location for the future prosperity of the city.”

Mr Laverack was unavailable for comment on his decision to put up the signs.