Residents fighting against a halfway house for recovering drug and alcohol addicts near their homes last night claimed a public meeting to address their concerns had been of little use.

And they said that, despite claims that the centre would be nothing more than a supportive residency for recovering addicts, Planning officials had described it as a Hospice for Drug Rehabilitation.

They said the whole application should be scrapped and started again.

They said the meeting on Friday night with Focus Counselling Services had not furnished them with enough statistics or proof that the supportive residency would not lead to more crime in their neighbourhood.

Focus hopes to open Jerry's House close to Fort St. Catherine, in St.

George's, next year.

The charity said it's aim was to provide up to 24 men who have successfully completed a treatment programme a place to live until they get back on their feet and are fully integrated into society.

The charity claims the clients must be drug free in order to live there, and must be regularly tested.

However, it has met with fierce opposition from residents in the area who claim 24 people is too many for one centre to accommodate, and who fear it will lead to additional crime and noise.

And they have accused Focus of misleading the public by claiming it is going to be a supportive residency, when the planning application describes it as a treatment centre.

Gary Brangman, spokesman for the Committee of Concerned Residents (CCR), said many of the residents' fears were not addressed at Friday night's meeting.

Function of halfway house under question And he said the neighbours had become even more suspicious of the plans after it was revealed that planning officials had labelled the centre a Hospice for Drug Rehabilitation.

Focus has claimed that Planners may have "boxed the application off'' in that category, but their use for the building had not changed.

And a member of the Focus board told the meeting that a Planning clerk may have just made a mistake when describing the application.

As a result, Focus and CCR's lawyer Llewellyn Peniston are meeting with the Planning department this morning to discuss exactly what the permission is for and how it should be described.

Mr. Brangman, of nearby Barry Road, said he personally was prepared to compromise over the centre, provided it had much fewer clients, for example five or six.

But he said the planning description should be clear, to everybody, and he said security should be addressed now.

Last night, the executive director of Focus Sandy Butterfield became very emotional when she was informed of the residents' comments.

And she said she had thought the meeting had gone better than she expected it would.

She said: "At no time, did I ever tell the residents it was going to be a treatment centre. I have always said it was going to be a supportive residency -- and that is not treatment.

"The supportive residency is the contingency management after they have completed a treatment programme, and I emphasise after.

"I don't understand how the people in the area are stuck on treatment.'' She said the planning department had not called it a drug rehab centre, but instead a hospice.

However, in the Planning notice in The Royal Gazette , it was called a Hospice for Drug Rehabilitation.

She said she had no idea why it had been called a hospice, but said the Planning officials may have just "boxed it off'' in that category.

Ms. Butterfield said she did not believe the description in the planning application would make problems for Focus.

She said every resident who lived at the centre would be working or studying full-time, and she said they must each pay their way and be responsible citizens.

They would be regularly drug-tested and must stay clean to continue living there.

She added: "I am not lying or being sneaky. I always said the people at the residency would have already completed a treatment programme.

"I can't really believe that human beings are treated like this. It's incredible, especially in Bermuda.

"They are just people, like everybody else. There are lots of people out there in society who have just finished treatment and nobody says anything about them because they don't know they are there.

"If there is a family in Bermuda that has not been touched by alcohol or drugs, they would probably win an award. These people complaining, it could affect them one day.'' Mrs. Butterfield said there was nowhere else suitable to put the centre, but said she would leave everything to God now.

"I believe if it is supposed to happen, it will happen,'' she added. "And, if it is not meant to be, then it won't be, and something else will come.'' And in the meantime, she said if the residents wanted more meetings then they would have them. And she said although she had tried to answer every question on Friday, any outstanding concerns would be answered.

Attorney for the residents Mr. Peniston claimed last night that the Planning application was "defective'' in its current state.

He added: "This is now a serious matter. I am going to ask for this application to be withdrawn.

"It cannot continue as it is.

"I was at the meeting on Friday and Focus did not address the issues.

"We have had no statistics or information to back up their claims that the centre will not lead to more crime.''