Browse Sections

• Education
• Roadworks
• Shipman
• Special reports

Hostel plan for pub is hoax

Sam Lister
27/ 2/2003

A BOGUS notice informing Denton folk a hostel was being built for 86 refugees sparked plans for a protest.

Councillors and planning officers were swamped by calls from residents worried about the plans to turn the Pinnacle pub in Crown Point into a home for asylum seekers.

But it was all a hoax. Someone using Tameside council letter-headed paper, had mocked up a notice and posted it outside the pub.

The official looking letter also said neighbouring DDB Cosmetics would be used for part of the development.

It was removed within a few hours, but news had already spread like wildfire through the town and residents were planning to protest.

Denton councillor Allison Dennis said: "There is no truth in this whatsoever. It is playing on people's fears and immediately alarms them.

"We have had a lot of phone calls about it, the news spread really quickly. There was talk of starting a petition and holding a protest.

"If anybody sees any more notices like this they should let the council know straight away. We have to be vigilant in stopping people like this who play on others' fears."

Planning officers insist there are absolutely no plans for a hostel on the site, and said they were considering looking at CCTV footage to find the person responsible.

A spokesman for the council said: "It was a hoax and it has caused a lot of upset.

"The planning department has had lots of calls on this. It was on letter-headed paper so it looked convincing, but there were a lot of inaccuracies in it.

"It referred to the environment services not the planning department and it was laminated - we're not quite as professional as that, we put the notices in plastic pockets!

"Somebody had gone to a lot of effort to make this look convincing, but we must reiterate that there are absolutely no plans for a hostel in the area.

"There are CCTV cameras in the area so we could check them to find out who it was."