'Nightly fights' between migrants at asylum centre

Scuffles between different migrant groups are a regular occurrence, an asylum seeker at Wethersfield says

A migrant staying at the Wethersfield asylum centre in north Essex says there is “almost nightly fighting” between different nationalities.

The BBC has seen video footage that appeared to show a fight involving several men in a canteen where chairs were thrown and one man had a bloodied face.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Fighting and any forms of vandalism at Wethersfield are totally unacceptable."

A government source confirmed there had been a small number of incidents.

Asylum seekers are free to come and go at the Wethersfield military base which is expected to house up to 1,700 male migrants

The asylum seeker, whose identity we are protecting, says the asylum centre on the former military base “has many, many problems".

He told the BBC there was “almost nightly fighting with another nationality, because the number of people is many”.

He said he did not know why the migrants were fighting.

The BBC understands that some of the minibuses that take migrants to the nearby centres of Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford have had their windows smashed and vandalised on the base.

'Utmost priority'

The asylum seeker said: “No-one in the camp is feeling safe."

The Home Office said it would continue "to work closely with our provider to ensure people behave appropriately on site".

"The safety of individuals remains our utmost priority," a spokesperson added.

Asylum seekers began moving on to the Wethersfield site in July.

Braintree District Council failed to get an injunction to stop the Home Office from using the former military base to house up to 1,700 single male asylum seekers.

The authority is now considering an appeal against the outcome of a judicial review, which found the Home Office acted lawfully in using the site.

Asylum seekers began arriving at Wethersfield in July

Last month, the Home Office said the quality of food at Wethersfield “meets NHS Eatwell standards, catering for all cultural and dietary requirements” and there was “on site primary healthcare provision”.

However, the asylum seeker told the BBC neither the food or the accommodation were good and there were "many problems with people inside the camp”.

The Home Office is understood to be planning to apply a special development order that would allow it to use Wethersfield for a further three years until 2027.