Crowne Plaza has been closed to the public for months

This week it was reported in the national news that several local councils are taking the Home Office to the High Court for block booking hotel rooms for asylum seekers.

The Gazette understands that The Crowne Plaza, in Old Common Road, Basingstoke, has been used to accommodate asylum seekers for almost a year.

READ MORE: Basingstoke hotel closed to the public until 'further notice'

The Home Office refused to confirm if the IHG hotel is being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

However, the hotel has been closed for months, with security positioned outside 24/7 and a sign advising it is shut to the public "until further notice". 

When the Gazette visited the hotel to try to speak with someone living inside, we were told by security not to enter the grounds.

No one left the building while we were there.

Asked for a comment on the use of the Basingstoke hotel to accommodate asylum seekers, a spokesperson for the Home Office 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 £5.6million a day. The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.”

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A spokesperson for the hotel chain said: “We’re unable to share any comment as bookings are confidential. If your query is about migrant housing, then the Home Office or relevant government media team will be able to guide you on this.”

A member of staff who answered the phone at the hotel said it is not open for bookings by members of the public for the “foreseeable future”.

The Home Office said it engages with local authorities “as early as possible” when sites are used for asylum accommodation and works “to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people”.

The government has been under pressure to reduce numbers at Manston immigration processing centre in Kent following reports of overcrowding, diphtheria and MRSA.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News that more hotel rooms are being procured at pace to temporarily accommodate migrants.

The Home Office added: “Hotels are a short-term solution to the global migration crisis and we are working hard to find appropriate dispersed accommodation for migrants, asylum seekers and Afghan refugees as soon as possible. We would urge local authorities to do all they can to help house people permanently.”

The borough council's cabinet member for homes and regeneration Cllr Samuel Carr said: “Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is not responsible for the coordination of accommodation or support for economic migrants or asylum seekers. This is an area where the Home Office exercises exclusive jurisdiction.

"Local authorities may strongly advise, raise significant concerns, ask searching questions, highlight challenges faced, or work with local partners to seek support — but the Home Office decides.

"As a council, we engage with any statutory lead body about any issue affecting our borough, making sure at all times that the interests of our residents are heard.”

Basingstoke's MP Maria Miller said: "Hotels are commercial organisations and questions about contracts with Government to provide short-term accommodation should be raised directly with the responsible authority, the Home Office. 

"The Home Office is required by law to provide asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute, with accommodation. Our country has a proud tradition of providing safe haven for refugees' and asylum seekers fleeing persecution or even the threat of death, most recently those fleeing Afghanistan and Ukraine.

"I thank all those individuals in our borough who have worked so hard to support people who have sought refuge in our own community. But there is also evidence that over many years criminal gangs have been involved in illegally trafficking individuals into our country, and that has escalated, using small boats to cross the English Channel, putting many hundreds of people into perilous and life-threatening situations, including those whose job it is to rescue them. This heinous trade in human life is not only illegal it is immoral, and all efforts must be used to stop it.

"The Government is focussed on working with the French Authorities and others to stem that illegal trade in human beings and I fully support that work. The scale of the increase means that Boroughs like Basingstoke and Deane are being used, often for the first time, to try to ensure those coming into the country are treated humanely. Locally, my focus is to make sure the organisations involved in providing shelter and care have the resources and support they need from the Home Office, to ensure the health and welfare of everyone involved, whilst the Home Office handles and assesses each individual situation as quickly as possible."