RESIDENTS in Boscombe last night launched an eleventh-hour bid to stop a former arts centre from being turned into offices for social services and other organisations working with children and families.

Feelings ran high at a packed meeting in the Portman hotel on Ashley Road organised by the Friends of the Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts.

While Bournemouth council’s cabinet has approved plans for an integrated services hub on the Haviland Road site and the full council is expected to rubber-stamp that decision tonight, the Friends, local traders and residents united to call for a community centre.

Linda Ni’Man, a BCCA stalwart, said: “It’s a last-ditch bid but we haven’t given up yet. We want the council to reject what is going forward and are asking them to give us time.

“We want them to start coming honestly to the table to ensure it will be a transparent process. The community is fragmented; we need our heart back.”

She voiced fears that the £2.3 million grant for the scheme could be lost, adding: “Central government are aware of what is going on and it can be taken away. We don’t want that money removed from an impoverished community.”

Steve Kent, chairman of Boscombe Traders’ Association, said: “The council has made a decision without even consulting local residents.

“Senior council officers assured us that there would be no more rehabilitation centres in Boscombe – we have reached saturation point.”

Councillors Mike Everingham and Allister Rus-sell attended the meeting but no council officers turned up.

Cllr Everingham said: “Even we are not given half the information we should be given; it’s a bitter game.”

One local resident said Haviland Road was already plagued by drug dealers, adding: “Local residents are woken up by them at four or five o’clock in the morning.

“There are already lots of places in Bournemouth for alcohol and drug abusers. We don’t need anymore here.”

Lyn Moreland, whose husband Brian is a GP at the Crescent surgery, said: “What we need is facilities for the people of Boscombe; not more office space.”