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Llanelli: Boulders at asylum row Stradey Park Hotel entrance

BBC Boulders have been put at the entrance of a hotel caught up in an asylum rowBBC
Boulders have been placed at the entrance of the Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli, but it remains unclear who did it

Five boulders have been placed at the entrance of a hotel set to house hundreds of asylum seekers.

It is unclear who put the rocks in front of the Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.

Carmarthenshire council said it was aware of the boulders at the scene, but said it had nothing to do with them.

Local group the Furnace Action Committee said it was not responsible, and a manager at the hotel confirmed the business had not put them there.

The manager - who did not want to be identified - said staff noticed the stones at about 11:00 BST on Tuesday

Police and the fire brigade had been called and the council contacted, they said, adding: "It's disrupting the hotel… a coach tour bus couldn't get in today".

rocks
The Home Office has said that asylum seekers will be put in the hotel from 3 July

The Furnace Action Committee, which calls itself a group formed to "debate the asylum seekers plan", said it was "always likely that there would be random, independent acts to disrupt the plan".

A spokesman said: "From the point of view of the Furnace Action Committee, it may get them to see sense.

"Hopefully, they will not proceed with what we understand to be a contract arrangement with Clearsprings, the company which acts as agents for the Home Office for asylum seeker accommodation throughout the UK."

The union Unison said housing the asylum seekers at the hotel would put "significant pressure on council and health services locally that have been cut to the bone and underfunded for many years".

S4C Stradey Park hotelS4C
No-one has claimed responsibility for the rocks at the hotel

Despite Unison claims about sackings, the hotel employee insisted: "No staff have been fired and there are no job cuts."

The Home Office has confirmed asylum seekers will be put in the property from 3 July.

According to the local authority, up to 207 people, made up of families, will be accommodated in 77 rooms.

The Home Office said the asylum system was under "incredible strain".

It maintained using hotels to house them was "unacceptable."

"The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer," it said.