Pictured: Inside Britain’s new large-scale asylum camp

The first 46 migrants have arrived at Britain’s new large-scale asylum camp to be greeted with a welcome pack telling them they need to be “good neighbours.”

Days after crossing the Channel on small boats, they were bussed the 110 miles from the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent to the camp at the disused RAF Wethersfield base in Essex, which will expand to house 1,700 single male asylum seekers by the autumn.

The Home Office opened up the camp to reveal the facilities – from a gym fully equipped with weight machines and a sports hall for basketball and football, to en-suite two or three-person bedrooms and a briefing centre where the first migrants were issued with their welcome pack.

As well as toiletries, the pack included information, in their own language, on “what it is to be a good neighbour”, which will be followed up with sessions to teach them about British culture and laws to help them integrate into the community, said Home Office officials.

Migrants are free to leave for up to seven days at a time or for 14 days within any six-month period, but will be discouraged from doing so on foot because of the risks on narrow country lanes. 

Buses will be provided to take them to Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester.

Cheryl Avery, the Home Office director for asylum accommodation, said: “We make sure that everybody is safe, both asylum seekers on site and the community as well. 

“Everybody who arrives here goes through an orientation process to understand what acceptable behaviour is.

“We know they’ve been through quite a lengthy journey and they’re in a new environment, and it’s important they understand how to fit in and be part of the community and minimise any impact.”

Residents and local MPs – including James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, and Priti Patel, the former home secretary – as well as Braintree District Council are all opposed to the camp, which they claim is too remote, with inadequate infrastructure and roads to support such a large community.

Braintree council on Wednesday opened its attempt at the High Court to secure a judicial review of the plans in a last-ditch effort to block it.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has promised basic but humane large-scale accommodation, which will be cheaper than hotels. It is costing the taxpayer more than £6 million a day to house 51,000 migrants, including a buffer of 5,000 empty hotel beds in case of higher than expected numbers arriving this summer.

On Wednesday, The House of Lords set up a confrontation with the Government by voting to stick by its demands to place a legal obligation on ministers to “have regard” to international laws on human rights and refugees. It sets up a “ping pong” battle between peers and ministers over the Government’s illegal migration Bill with more votes over the next 24 hours.

Bedrooms at Wethersfield are whitewashed and fitted with bunk or single beds, and en-suite shower and toilet facilities. On Wednesday, the dining hall was serving a choice of chicken samosa with wedges and salad or beef curry with tortilla offered on a menu in six different languages including Arabic, Persian, Pashto and Spanish.

Migrants will spend up to nine months at the camp, which also has a health centre, with GPs and nurses, and a multi-faith centre. Mrs Avery said that at an asylum facility in Kentresidents had set up a running club and there were arts lessons and other leisure activities.

All are single adult men who have been screened, with biometric and health testing, and assessed for suitability for the camp, she added. Wethersfield is being run by a contractor and manned 24/7 with CCTV cameras in place.

Wethersfield is the first of two RAF bases to be repurposed for asylum seekers. The other is RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire – the home of the Dambusters – where the council is also seeking a judicial review.

It camp is just two miles from the picturesque village of Finchingfield, described as the most photographed village in England and beloved by residents for its duck pond, hump-backed bridge, windmill and tea rooms. It is best known as a setting for the BBC detective series Lovejoy and as home to Jamie Oliver, the chef.

Ministers hope to have a barge ready at Portland, Dorset, by the end of the month to house 500 migrants and open Scampton for a further 1,700 by August. The barge is due to arrive this weekend.

The opening of Wethersfield coincides with a surge in Channel migrants, with 1,677 people arriving over the weekend, taking the total this year to 13,160 – close to last year’s total at the same time. Last year, a record 45,755 people crossed the Channel.