A school exams officer is leading a residents’ campaign against the conversion of a private house into a home in Steeton for five mentally ill people.

Alyson Robinson, who works at Aireville School, in Skipton, has collected more than 60 signatures from people living in the streets around Station Road, where The Willows Independent Hospital has bought a house for five of its female patients.

The house, called Greenhill, will be the second of its kind in the village after The Willows bought a first “step-down” care home for four male patients in High Street last September, called Ghyllside.

The concept behind the homes is to give the Willows’ patients, who all suffer from mental illness, “supported community living” so that they can learn independent living skills.

Mrs Robinson, from Rivock Avenue, near Greenhill, said: “Steeton is a small village. We already have a mental health care unit at Airedale Hospital, The Willows Independent Hospital, Ghyllside and now Greenhill. We are absolutely saturated.

“The manager of the Willows, Sean O’Hanrahan, told Steeton with Eastburn Parish Council last year that there would not be another house like Gyllside put in Steeton but six months later he’s planning another one. How many more are there going to be?

“There are elderly residents living next to Greenhill who are devastated about this, they haven’t been consulted about it, none of us have and it seems according to the law there is nothing we can do to stop it.”

Mrs Robinson has been in contact with Keighley MP Kris Hopkins about the law regarding multiple-use houses and he has replied saying he will look into it.

A spokesman from Craegmoor Healthcare, which runs The Willows, said the company was “absolutely committed to ensuring the health, wellbeing and safety of its staff, users and neighbours”.

He added: “There is a very real need for support services for people living with mental illnesses in the local area. Ghyllside, in Steeton, enables us to provide support for male adults progressing from The Willows. The new Greenhill service will enable us to provide the same support for five female adults.”