A council has launched a High Court bid to prevent a Wisbech hotel being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

Fenland District Council has filed an application for an interim injunction after it was informed The Rose and Crown, in Market Place, had been secured for a Home Office contract. 

The Home Office said it does not comment on individual sites but explained numbers arriving in the UK had reached record levels and the “asylum system is under incredible strain”. 

It also said local authorities are “engaged” as early as possible whenever locations are used to asylum accommodation to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people. 

The Rose and Crown officially announced its closure on Friday afternoon (November 4).   

Within hours, Fenland District Council issued a press release stating it was prepared to take legal action as there were concerns the closure was an indication the hotel was preparing to accept asylum seekers.  

Later in the evening, Serco, the contractor which runs the Home Office’s asylum seeker operation, confirmed its plans to use the venue.  

The council said it has since spent the weekend working on a legal case.   

Cllr Chris Boden, leader of Fenland District Council, said: “It is thoroughly irresponsible of the Home Office to consider placing vulnerable people with no recourse to public funding in a town such as Wisbech, without any consultation or any consideration of the impact this will have on the asylum seekers themselves.   

“We are in a rural location, with very limited hotel accommodation and transport links, and we already have significant issues with migrant exploitation and human trafficking, which would put any people placed here at risk.”  

A press release issued by the council explains the injunction is aimed at preventing The Rose and Crown from being used for housing asylum seekers.  

The council says it has argued the hotel’s change of use to a hostel is a breach of planning law and “the harm of arising from such a breach is significant”.  

It also describes the hotel as “wholly unsuitable place to house vulnerable people” as there is a “substantial risk of harm, which is unable to be mitigated” and the asylum seekers would face “potential suffering”.   

“It is also disappointing that Serco failed to notify the council of its plans earlier to enable any form of discussions regarding locations to take place,” the press release explains.  

Serco has declined to comment.   

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain. 

“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6m a day.  

“The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.” 

But Wisbech-based councillors at Fenland District Council argue the town is the wrong location for such a facility.  

Cllr Steve Tierney, district councillor for Medworth, Wisbech, said: “As councillor for the area where the The Rose and Crown is located, I am deeply concerned about the plan to house asylum seekers there.   

“There are other places which are much better placed to give these vulnerable people the support they need.”   

Cllr Samantha Hoy, the council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, added: “We fully understand the concerns about local hotels being used to house asylum seekers and would urge the Home Office to consider more suitable locations where any new arrivals would not be subject to the level of potential harm.” 

Stephen Barclay, MP for North East Cambridgeshire, has also been approached for comment. 

Attempts have been made to contact HH Hotels, understood to be the new owners of The Rose and Crown.