POLICE are preparing a dossier of evidence to persuade the courts to shut down a crime-ridden homeless hostel.

Senior officers want a closure order granted against the Queen's Park Hotel on Glasgow's South Side.

The B&B, owned by businessman Alistair McKever, is used as temporary homeless accommodation by Scots councils - including Glasgow.

It's the sister operation of the notorious Parkview Hotel nearby.

Residents and politicians have been battling to have both premises shut because of drug-related and violent crime, which police figures show are linked directly to clients - some recently released prisoners.

Glasgow City Council stripped the Parkview of its house of multiple occupancy licence last year but it can continue pending a court appeal.

But because of a planning rule technicality, the Queen's Park Hotel doesn't need an HMO licence and can't be shut by the council.

Now police, facing pressure from residents, are to apply for a closure order, which is expected to go to court in the coming months.

The Queen's Park Hotel could be sealed off with metal shutters and an alarm linked to police for up to six months.

It would be a huge embarrassment to Mr McKever, whose firms have a string of upmarket hotels, as well as four homeless units - three in Glasgow and one in Perth.

Mr McKever takes around £30 a night of taxpayers' money for each person who stays in his hostels - meaning the Queen's Park Hotel can earn around £10,000 a week.

It's understood police chiefs are preparing evidence which will show the problems associated with the hostel.

Secret police documents obtained by the Evening Times last year - marked "not for public consumption" - revealed there were 198 crimes in a 150m sq area centred on the Queen's Park Hotel between April 2004 and March 2006.

Residents' complaints are being compiled for the closure order case by Glasgow Community and Safety Services, a council-owned body, yet the council's social services department is still sending homeless people to the hotel.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "Residents are entitled to raise any complaints with public services.

"However, it would be wrong to use the behaviour of a minority to stigmatise all people affected by homelessness."