Ipswich hotel used to house asylum seekers due to reopen

A hotel that was used to house migrants is set to reopen to the public early next year.

The Novotel, on Grey Friars Road, Ipswich, had been contracted by the government for about a year.

The government announced in October it would stop using 50 hotels to host asylum seekers by the end of January.

The owners of the hotel said: "The Novotel Ipswich is currently undergoing maintenance and refresh works and will welcome guests in early 2024."

Tom Hunt, Conservative MP for Ipswich, said he was pleased the hotel could "be put back to its proper use".

A letter seen by the BBC revealed that the 2022 plan to house migrants at the hotel meant some staff would be replaced by workers brought in by the Home Office.

Mr Hunt said he hoped those who "were pressured to resign should be not only offered their jobs back but ideally on better terms than before".

A spokesperson for Novotel said "Where temporary contracts between hotel owners and the government come to an end, we work closely with the owners to assess each property and do whatever is required to ensure they are fully returned to the standards required of our hotels before re-opening them to guests."

In a statement to Parliament in October, the-then immigration minister Robert Jenrick said agreements with France and Albania, along with stricter penalties for those connected to illegal migration, had helped reduce the numbers arriving in small boats, enabling the government to end the use of asylum hotels.

"These hotels should be assets for their local communities, serving businesses and tourists - not housing illegal migrants at an unsustainable cost to the taxpayer," he said.

Earlier this year a group of about 30 people gathered to demonstrate against the use of the hotel.

However, they were outnumbered by about 100 people supporting those inside the Novotel.

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