More councils take action over migrant hotels

The Home Office said it needed to provide accommodation for the "unprecedented" number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK

Two more councils have launched legal action to prevent the Home Office placing asylum seekers in hotels.

Authorities in Fenland and North Northamptonshire have filed applications for interim injunctions at the High Court.

Other councils, including Ipswich and East Riding of Yorkshire, have made similar applications.

Leader of Fenland District Council, Chris Boden, said it was "thoroughly irresponsible of the Home Office" to consider using Wisbech.

Chris Boden said Wisbech was a rural location with very limited hotel accommodation and transport links

The council said a hotel in the Cambridgeshire town had secured a Home Office contract to accommodate people seeking asylum.

According to the authority, there was a "sudden closure of the hotel on Friday afternoon" and it was later informed of its planned use.

The Conservative-led council said the change of the hotel "to use as a hostel is a breach of planning law and the harm arising from such a breach is significant".

Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, Jason Smithers, said the authority had previously worked with the Home Office to find accommodation

North Northamptonshire Council said it was seeking to prevent the use of a hotel in Kettering to house asylum seekers.

The authority said it was keen to support the accommodation of migrants in the area, but wanted the injunction to "allow time to assess suitable alternative locations".

Conservative leader of the council, Jason Smithers, said the proposed hotel was "not an appropriate place to accommodate asylum seekers for a number of reasons".

He added the legal action "was a decision we have not taken lightly".

In a statement, the Home Office said: "We are dealing with an unprecedented increase in asylum cases, but despite this we continue to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe, secure and leaves no-one destitute."

It added it would "not comment on operational arrangements for individual hotels".