Refugees 'grateful for safety' at North Ferriby hotel

Yusef, left, and Khalid, have each fled Syria

Two Syrian men staying in a hotel which recently took in asylum seekers have said they are grateful to get refuge after fleeing their war-torn homeland.

Yusef, 28, and Khalid, 25, have been staying at the Humber View Hotel in North Ferriby.

The site had been at the centre of a legal challenge after East Riding of Yorkshire Council tried to stop the move.

Yusef said he and Khalid had fled a nation with kidnapping and war.

Speaking through a translation device, they said they now hoped to build new lives in the UK.

They were among the first men to arrive at the hotel after spending about a month in an asylum processing facility in Kent.

Graffiti was daubed on the Humber View Hotel sign in North Ferriby near Hull following the ruling

The High Court dismissed a bid to stop asylum seekers being housed at the hotel after the council argued it was being converted to a hostel which was in breach of local planning controls.

However, a judge ruled East Riding of Yorkshire Council had not shown there was an urgent legal case to prevent the Home Office's contractors from using the site.

Up to 77 single adult men could be housed at the hotel in the next 12 months amid a mounting asylum claims backlog.

Yusef said he had managed to speak to his family in Syria after striking up a friendship with Khalid who let him use his phone, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The 28-year-old said all he had at the moment was the clothes he was wearing.

"I don't have anything else, but the hotel here is good," he said.

"I was in Manston for 25 days, there was no bed, I slept on the floor. I've managed to speak to my family now and as far as I know they're safe."

Khalid said he spent five years in Turkey after fleeing his home country and had not been back since.

The 25-year-old said: "I'm happy to have a bed now, things are better here, I was in Manston for a month.

"I've come to Britain to be safe - eventually I'd like to learn to speak English properly and live and work here.

"Britain is the place that's given me asylum and safety, I'm thankful for everyone here that's helped me."