Hotel’s 15 hours’ notice over asylum seekers

ASYLUM bosses provoked anger with plans to move 80 migrants to a seaside hotel – giving local officials just 15 hours’ notice.

In a strongly worded email, the housing chief in Morecambe, Lancashire, warned the Home Office that support services were ‘already stretched’ due to two other hotels being used to house 221 asylum seekers.

The council official warned of ‘ongoing, unresolved safety and cohesion issues’ and said further arrivals could cause ‘conflict’ within the area.

The proposals were revealed to town hall chiefs at pm on Friday and the local MP at 7am on Saturday – with the migrants due to arrive from 9am on Saturday.

In the email sent on Friday evening, Jo Wilkinson, head of housing at Lancaster City Council, complained at having ‘not received at least 2 hours’ notice’.

Miss Wilkinson warned: ‘Community cohesion has become a significant risk in the district as a direct result of the utilisation of two contingency hotels. If this third hotel goes ahead, conflict at one of the sites and within the wider community is inevitable.

‘A list of incidents has been shared with Home Office colleagues previously; these have included a protest/demonstration, sexual offences, assaults, multiple alleged racially motivated assaults of asylum seekers, (and) a huge negative social media presence surrounding both current hotel sites – including one surrounding the alleged attempted rape of a woman by an asylum seeker.’

David Morris, Tory MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said: ‘We are not an unwelcoming area and have taken more refugees and asylum seekers than most other parts of Lancashire. But there needs to be time for services and facilities to be put in place.’

Last night he said that after talks yesterday afternoon, the Home Office has agreed to use the hotel as a ‘temporary measure’ limited to three weeks.