FRUSTRATED neighbours have described their “living hell” near a homeless hostel after armed police flooded a street and a man was arrested.

Police and an armed response unit were spotted in Westcliff Park Drive on Tuesday evening as a resident living in one of Harp’s hostels was arrested on suspicion of burglary.

The hostel, surrounded by resident homes, is used by the charity to house people who are being helped off the streets but neighbours have alleged their hit with constant issues.

From drug dealing, to anti-social behaviour and noise, issues are creating a “living hell, full of misery and anxiety” according to neighbours.

Harp has insisted it is aware of the issues and doing all it can to minimise the hostel’s impact on neighbouring residents.

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “It has been constant turmoil for three months, I have knocked on the door of the property and asked them to stop smoking drugs because the smoke is making me and my family ill.

“It has been three months of hell, what I want to know is how the screening process has failed so badly that these people, who are high-risk and may be drug-addicts and potential offenders can be placed so close to children and women.”

The resident added that the stress of living so close to the to the property, particularly following the armed police response, was having an impact on his health.

“If this goes on another year, I won’t be here, my heart is constantly pinched,” he said.

“This just isn’t the right property, this is not the right one, everyone here is terrified.

“They just haven’t been screening people and we are now living in hell and misery and anxiety because of it.”

Another resident added: “I haven’t had trouble as such but we have weird people hanging around, constant smells of drugs from there.

“I doesn’t feel nice, they shouldn’t be in that location as there are normal families on either side of the property.

“Why would you want to live so close to that?”