PLANS to house asylum seekers in an Ipswich residential estate have been put on the back burner.It seemed certain a controversial hostel would get the thumbs up from councillors despite a storm of local protest.

PLANS to house asylum seekers in an Ipswich residential estate have been put on the back burner.

It seemed certain a controversial hostel would get the thumbs up from councillors despite a storm of local protest.

Previous plans to open the hostel on the corner of Bramford Road and Beaconsfield Road were binned amid fears of the impact on the community.

But a smaller-scale proposal seemed set to get the green light after council planning experts recommended it.

Now the experts will have to come back with more information after Ipswich Borough Council's planning committee failed to reach a decision.

Councillors will debate the development again on May 21 with more information on the proposal.

More than 200 residents had signed a petition calling for the scheme to be scrapped.

But council officers recommended a two-year probationary approval for the scheme after it was scaled down.

Previous proposals had asked permission to house 15 and 14 people. Now developers hope to be given the go-ahead to house just 10 asylum seekers.

Developers want to change the current shop and living accommodation into four bedrooms, two lounges, a dining room/kitchen, three bathrooms and a staff room.

A single storey extension at the rear of the property would be built to provide more room.

Millennium Investments 2000, the company behind the proposal, plans to enclose the front garden and improve the rear yard if the scheme is approved.

N What do you think of the proposal? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk