Hundreds attend Dunstable migrant hotel meeting

The signs have been taken down at the Old Palace Lodge after it closed for a government contract

About 300 people attended a public meeting about a hotel which took a government contract to house migrants.

The four star Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable said the deal was needed to ensure its survival amid rising energy costs following the Covid pandemic.

The meeting, organised by Conservative South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous, allowed people to ask him and a hotel representative questions.

Bedfordshire Police also attended the meeting.

Prior to the meeting at The Priory Church in the town, Central Bedfordshire Council's chief executive Marcel Coiffait issued a statement to "provide more clarity" on the hotel's arrangement, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Hundreds of people attended the meeting at Priory Church in Dunstable

Mr Coiffait said: "A contract is in place on behalf of the Home Office between the Old Palace Lodge owners and Clearsprings Ready Homes Limited to provide around 150 beds of temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.

"The Home Office is required to do everything that's practically possible to continue to meet its statutory obligation to house destitute asylum seekers."

He said councils were not offered financial incentives and said the Old Palace Lodge would be used as "contingency accommodation".

However, he said a "huge backlog of demand for accommodation and processing" means the hotel could be used for "much longer".