MPs' relief as asylum seekers leave hotels

Hotels in Burton will no longer house asylum seekers by the end of April, the Home Office has confirmed.

More than 100 will be moved out of the four-star Mercure Newton Park Hotel by the end of next month.

About 60 more will leave the budget Ibis in Burton town centre by the start of May, and a proposal for a third hotel to be used for accommodation has been scrapped.

The news has been welcomed by local Conservative MPs Kate Kniveton and Heather Wheeler.

Ms Wheeler, who represents South Derbyshire, told the BBC she was "absolutely delighted" at the decision, as she said the hotel had been "completely the wrong place to put them".

She said: "The vast majority of the asylum seekers that came were not Christian, so the community came together to help them get to the mosques, whether in Derby or Burton, and that meant that large groups of single males from around the world were on the bus.

"The church and community groups have done their best to welcome them but they're stuck in the middle of nowhere so it's a very, very difficult situation."

The government announced in October that it would scale down the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

Ms Kniveton, MP for Burton, said she welcomed the news the Home Office would be ending its temporary accommodation contracts in the town.

“The Government has made significant progress on tackling the illegal channel crossings, cutting the backlog and finding more appropriate forms of asylum accommodation," she said.

"As a result of these successful efforts, here in Burton we will benefit from our hotels returning to public use."

A South Derbyshire District Council spokesman said: “We are aware of the situation and in dialogue with local partners.”

East Staffordshire District Council has also been approached.

Speaking in the Commons, the minister for legal migration, Tom Pursglove, said the decision showed the government's plan on migration was working.

He said: "That we're seeing these hotel exits happen is a direct consequence of of getting on and making decisions, bringing forward alternative accommodation but also, and this is the crucial point, reducing inflow in the first place."

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