A twelve point charter outlining how a proposed centre for drug-addicted prisoners will be run in a Ryedale village has been drawn up to allay residents' fears.

Plans to site a rehabilitation centre at Redcar Farm, on land owned by the private school Ampleforth College, have been met with fear by residents who want the idea scrapped.

The centre, which would be run by the charity, Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust, would provide residential care for ex-convicts trying to break their cycle of re-offending.

But residents of Ampleforth and nearby Gilling East are concerned patients at the centre will create a drug problem in the area, which has a school and a number of elderly people.

The charter puts in place self-imposed rules by which the organisers will run rehabilitation courses at the centre.

The Abbot of Ampleforth College, which owns the land on which the centre would be run, is reported in the charter as saying the centre will not be allowed to go ahead unless residents' concerns are addressed.

"Those admitted to the courses must have declared their intention to 'break the habit'," says the charter.

"They must clearly be shown to have acquired their criminal record through activities connected with satisfying their addiction.

"Anyone convicted of a crime of personal violence should be excluded from the courses; anyone caught in possession of alcohol or any forbidden substance will be dismissed from the course and taken by the management to the nearest urban centre - those expelled will not be left to roam the locality."

Other points in the charter include a promise of 24 hour supervision by responsible adults with an alarm system in operation to deter anyone trying to break out.

"When members move outside the immediate area of Redcar Farm they should wear distinctive clothing to enable easy identification," it adds.

"No one may move in the area unless accompanied by a responsible adult.

"As some local villagers might feel threatened by a group of course members, should organisers want to take all members on a day out they should plan to go beyond a ten mile radius of Ampleforth."

A committee representing the Abbey Trust, the residents and the managers of the courses will be set up and will meet up once a month, says the charter.

"There will be an open public meeting after each course to allow anyone interested or concerned to hear at first hand how it has gone and the problems encountered."

The full charter is due to be presented at a public meeting in the Old School, Gilling Village, at 7.45pm tonight.

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