Asylum seeker flats plan is ludicrous, says council

Anti-immigration protests and counter-demonstrations were staged in Epping over the summer

A council leader has said it would be "ludicrous" to open more asylum seeker accommodation after a summer of protests.

Epping Forest District Council has claimed that eight flats in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, could be used to house migrants by government contractor Clearsprings.

In a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Conservative council leader Chris Whitbread accused the Home Office and Clearsprings of being "tone deaf" to residents' concerns.

A Home Office spokesman said the government was "working to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation such as military bases".

Thousands of people protested in Epping during the summer after an asylum seeker living at The Bell Hotel was charged with – and later jailed for – sexual offences.

Epping Phoenix Hotel in North Weald Bassett, which also housed asylum seekers, was damaged by a fire in March.

Chris Whitbread said the proposal for Buckhurst Hill was "astounding"

"The last year has been catastrophic for our community, with fear, anxiety and protests spilling out from Epping across our district," Whitbread wrote.

He said it was "hard to overstate" the impact of housing asylum seekers and the government's "crass insensitivity" to the issue was "astounding".

"These proposals to procure no less than eight properties for the accommodation of more asylum seekers within our district is incomprehensible," he continued.

"I urge you to reconsider, intervene and stop this ludicrous proposal before it goes any further."

His letter was also addressed to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Justice Secretary David Lammy, Housing Secretary Steve Reed and Dr Neil Hudson, the Conservative MP for Epping Forest.

Whitbread said Mahmood must have been influenced by the events in Epping when unveiling her recent sweeping changes to the UK's asylum system.

Under her reforms, refugee status would be made temporary and the appeal process narrowed.

The Bell Hotel was allowed to continue housing asylum seekers after a High Court battle in November

It is not the first time the council has clashed with the government over asylum policy, losing a High Court battle over the housing of migrants at The Bell Hotel on 11 November.

The authority accused Clearsprings of breaching planning law and sought an injunction, but the judge said it would not be "an appropriate means of enforcing planning control".

The Home Office spokesman said the government was "furious" at the level of asylum hotels and illegal migrants in the UK.

"This government will close every asylum hotel and we are working to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation such as military bases, to ease pressure on communities across the country," he said.

"The home secretary has set out the most sweeping changes to our asylum system in a generation to restore order and control to our borders."

Clearsprings has been contacted for comment.