PLANNING officers have backed plans for a supported housing scheme, despite strong opposition from people living near the site.

The DePaul Trust wants to build three flats on the site of a former ice-cream factory in Bishop Auckland, where young people can learn the skills they need to live independently.

The trust has always maintained that young offenders or sex offenders will not be accommodated in the buildings, but people living nearby are sceptical.

On Wednesday, protestors presented a petition of 250 names opposing the scheme to Wear Valley District Council.

They say they will continue fighting the scheme, despite hearing that planning officers at the council have recommended its approval at a meeting on Monday, on the grounds that most of the objections centre around the potential occupants of the premises, which is not a planning issue.

Deputy chief executive of the DePaul Trust, Uma Barry, said it had been asked to carry out the project by a Bishop Auckland church group.

She said: "We were asked to come in and do this project by the local church group, who had identified a need for accommodation for young people in the area who were homeless, or could be homeless, or were vulnerable.

"It really is just young people we are talking about, not monsters or anything. It is not a project for young offenders or young people with serious problems or anything, it is simply problems at home."

She said it was also one of the trust's smallest schemes, as only five young people will be housed and each resident will be assessed by a worker, who will teach them skills such as cooking and budgeting for bills, or help them get training.

The people will be housed in three flats in Braithwaite Street and a shared house in Prince's Street.

But the Prince's Street protestors say they have too many similar projects in the area, and this scheme is more suited to a large urban conurbation rather than in the middle of a small, residential community such as Bishop Auckland.

Chairman of the Prince's Street protestors, Mike Dart, said: "Obviously as a committee we are going to fight it all the way and will be there in force on Monday.