Home Office Creaton migrants hotel plan has been dropped - MP

Highgate House dates from the 17th Century and is in a small Northamptonshire village

A Home Office plan to use a hotel in a village to house migrants has been dropped, an MP has said.

Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris had opposed the proposal to house up to 400 migrants at Highgate House Hotel in Creaton, Northamptonshire.

The Northern Ireland secretary shared correspondence that confirmed the Home Office would not be using the hotel.

The Home Office said it worked to "ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people".

Creaton is located about eight miles (13km) north of Northampton and has a population of about 550.

Mr Heaton-Harris met with local residents earlier in the month and reported their concerns to the Home Office.

The Conservative MP had previously said the hotel should not be used because of its rural location, the "impact on medical services, the lack of transport links [and the] lack of local facilities".

He also said he had been given a "list of issues" by West Northamptonshire Council.

'Already-stretched resources'

Writing on Facebook, he said the Home Office had "informed the local authority of their decision to stand down Highgate House as asylum seeker accommodation".

"This is due to a change in accommodation criteria which means Highgate House has been deemed unsuitable," he added.

He also shared correspondence from the Home Office, which said the hotel would not be used "at present".

However, it added that "given the Home Office's statutory duty to accommodate and support otherwise destitute asylum seekers, we may need to reconsider using the Highgate House Hotel in the future".

It added that if the property was reconsidered, officials would work with Mr Heaton-Harris "and other representatives from the local community... to understand the implications of moving ahead".

Mr Heaton-Harris said he was "delighted" the Home Office had put its plans on hold

A council representative said the authority was "currently supporting more hotel guests than any other area in the East Midlands" and had "expressed its concerns over the unsuitability of the proposed location and the added strain... on already-stretched health, education and social care".

The Conservative-led council's leader Jonathan Nunn said he welcomed the "rethink".

"We are incredibly proud of how residents across West Northants have welcomed hundreds of refugees... and the fact we already support the largest number of guests in our region is testament to the kindness and generosity of our communities," he said.

However, he added that "we must have sufficient resources in place to meet their essential needs and the kind of commitment West Northants has made needs to be equally spread across the UK".

A Home Office representative said the "number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain".

They said the use of hotels to house asylum seekers was unacceptable, as there were "currently more than 45,500 asylum seekers in hotels, costing the UK taxpayer £5.6m a day".

"We engage with local authorities as early as possible whenever sites are used for asylum accommodation and work to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people," they said.