Council urges government to stop asylum hotel plan

A council has written to the Home Office asking it to halt plans to replace asylum-seeking families in a hotel with single adult males.

South Norfolk Council said it opposed the move, which it learned of in a brief email from Whitehall last week.

The authority's Conservative leader Daniel Elmer said the hotel's residents - and the town, which had helped families integrate in the community - would be harmed.

The BBC has asked the Home Office for comment.

As reported by BBC News in June, 32,000 asylum seekers are living in hotels across the UK.

Elmer said: "We feel the decision and intended timeframe poses significant risks and concerns to both community cohesion and the vulnerable single males who would be residing at the hotel.

"The community impact of this change cannot be overstated."

In the letter to the Home Office, Elmer said the authority "remains fully committed to supporting asylum seekers".

It added: "When the hotel was first opened for asylum accommodation, there was considerable unease among local residents.

"The current use of the hotel for families has helped to show that there was no basis for the concerns expressed.

"Thanks to the hard work of the council and our partners the hotel currently exists comfortably as part of the community reflecting the current use.

"A sudden shift to a SAM [single adult males] hotel risks reigniting those tensions, especially in the absence of any community engagement or mitigation strategy from the Home Office."

It said the council feared unrest similar to that already seen in other areas.

The authority said the switch to single adult males instead of families would combine with homelessness issues and stretch local resources, including police services.

Norfolk Constabulary said of the hotel in South Norfolk: "Due to the modest policing presence, owing to its size and locality, the potential increase in demand would be difficult to manage reflecting the distance from other police resources.

"We are engaging with the local council and continue to support our partners and the local community."

The force said it was also aware of a planned protest at another location and continued to monitor the situation.

Its statement added: "Officers are engaging with organisers, as well as the local community and will provide a proportionate policing response whilst respecting the right to peaceful protest and maintaining the safety of the local community."

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