Great Yarmouth council launches legal challenge over hotel for asylum seekers

A council has launched a legal challenge against the Home Office to stop asylum seekers being housed in a seaside resort hotel.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council said it had serious concerns about people being put up at the Hotel Victoria in the town.

There had been a "lack of dialogue" from the Home Office and the hotel, the authority said.

The Home Office said it would not comment on individual hotels.

The hotel management declined to comment to the BBC.

A statement from the borough council said the hotel "should have applied for the correct planning permission before any asylum seekers were housed".

It said it had not received any application for change of use and would "pursue appropriate enforcement action where necessary".

The authority said it had "clearly communicated our views and concerns to both the hotel owner and the Home Office".

"We are also concerned about placing further strain on core services in an already highly populated and prime tourist area," the Conservative-led council said.

But it added it would "provide humanitarian support where necessary".

Michael Jeal, an opposition Labour councillor for the area the hotel is in, said the Home Office has "ridden roughshod" over the planning application process.

"It is a hotel not a hostel," he said.

A Home Office statement said: "We are dealing with an unprecedented increase in asylum cases but despite this we continue to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe, secure and leaves no-one destitute.

"The Home Office does not comment on operational arrangements for individual hotels."

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