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Final asylum seekers set to leave Bibby Stockholm

PA Media A view of the Bibby Stockholm, a large silver ship with red windows, being used as accommodation barge at Portland Port in Dorset, which has housed up to 500 asylum seekers at a time. In the foreground is a bush and some water.PA Media
The remaining eight men on board Bibby Stockholm are expected to leave on Tuesday

The last group of asylum seekers are due to leave the Bibby Stockholm barge.

The BBC understands the group of eight men will be leaving the accommodation in Portland, Dorset, on Tuesday.

It comes after 300 residents from the barge were moved in October to places including Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Bristol and Worksop.

Once all asylum seekers are off the vessel, an operation expected to take "several weeks" will begin to hand it back over to owners Bibby Marine.

BBC reporter Sophie Cridland has spoken to one asylum seeker who left the vessel on Monday and is now moving to Hampshire.

They told her there were 18 men on board over the weekend, with 10 leaving on Monday and the remaining eight expected to leave on Tuesday.

The BBC previously reported the men were being "dispersed around the country", with the process starting in October.

Dorset Council leader, Nick Ireland, previously confirmed the men would not be housed in Dorset or Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole areas.

Once the barge is empty, the BBC understand it will be towed away from Portland in January, which is when the contract between the Home Office and Portland Port expires.

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