Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts “don’t stand a chance” if they move into Surbiton YMCA due to rampant and unchecked substance misuse among residents, it has been claimed.

The claim surfaced as police revealed officers had been called to the hostel 300 times in less than two-and-a-half years, and have arrested people on suspicion of crimes including robbery, assault, knife possession, drug dealing and sex offences.

Officers were sent to the hostel, next to Sainsbury’s in busy Victoria Road, more than once every three days, according to figures released by police under the Freedom of Information Act.

Nine arrests were made between January 1 and April 30 this year alone.

A resident at the hostel, who asked not to be named, told the Surrey Comet: “Literally it’s every day you come out of your room and it smells of weed, constantly, on every floor.

“What makes it worse is there are people who are drunk ... and having conversations with their support workers while they’re drunk, and no one is doing anything about it.

“It is supposed to be zero-tolerance, it’s drilled into you.

“There is a stigma attached to the place, but it’s not without just cause. About a month ago there was a fight out the front. It’s the same people doing the same things.”

The source said people with substance addictions had relapsed after moving into the hostel.

“You can only be around it for so long, and if you’re not a strong character or strong-minded, it’s easy to fall into it. You don’t stand a chance,” the source said.

“There have been about three or four evictions in the past few weeks.

“They are changing the structure of how they do things now, which means that those who sit in their rooms all day smoking weed and getting drunk are going to have to volunteer, or get training or work.”

The YMCA responded by saying it had logged just 100 calls to police from the hostel in the period in question, including reports of traffic accidents, missing people and lost property.

Richard James, chief executive of YMCA London South West, said: “YMCA LSW aims both to support the people living in the YMCA, our members and service users to reduce their use of alcohol and illegal drugs and to ensure that it provides accommodation and services that are safe and secure.

“[It] is committed to working in co-operation with specialist agencies and other relevant organisations, including the police, to meet the needs of individuals who misuse drugs.”

A YMCA spokeswoman said YMCA Surbiton did not have a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy. She said:

“YMCA has strict policies relating to drug and alcohol consumption within the building.

“Actions taken with individual residents will not be visible or clear to other residents in the hostel.

“While we understand that this could create the impression that issues are not dealt with, it is our firm view that management and support workers at YMCA Surbiton go beyond their line of duty in providing support to residents at the hostel and ensuring that issues relating to drugs and alcohol misuse are dealt with appropriately.

“YMCA LSW does not accept convicted sex offenders or people convicted for violent offences as residents in our hostels.”

The roughly 600 people housed by the hostel between January 2013 and May this year were “supported with a wide range of interventions including life skills training, literacy and numeracy courses as well as access to counselling services”, the spokeswoman said.