A LONDON borough council denied that it would be sending “troubled families” to a house in Kennington at a public meeting.

Representatives from Hackney Council tried to allay residents’ fears at a special meeting in St Swithin’s Church Hall on Monday night.

They told locals that the families they hoped to send to the house in Bagley Wood Road, Kennington, would “benefit from some structured time away from home”.

They said: “The families that are chosen to stay at the house would be those that are assessed as being ready to benefit from a short and intense supported experience outside Hackney.

“They are not ‘troubled families’ and not part of the Government’s Troubled Families initiative.”

They also told the villagers that the council had a strong track record in managing a similar scheme in Kent.

The council has applied to Vale of White Horse District Council for planning permission to change the use of the £1.25m property.

Up to three families “at risk of breakdown” would be sent there for approximately three weeks with at least one member of staff.

The authority has been given money to buy the house from the Department for Education.

Many residents have now objected to the plans, calling it a “profligate use of public money” or saying it ignores the need for family housing in Oxfordshire.