A HOTEL has closed its doors to customers and will instead house asylum seekers, the Warrington Guardian understands.

The Paddington House Hotel is now taking in refugees in a service being operated by Government contractor Serco.

Online bookings for the Manchester Road site now appear to be unavailable, while the Warrington Guardian was told upon attempting to book via a phone call that it was ‘fully booked’.

Warrington Borough Council has confirmed that the Home Office has ‘entered into a private agreement’ with the hotel’s owners as part of the scheme.

A WBC spokesman said: “The Home Office and Serco have entered into a private agreement with the Paddington House Hotel owner and notified us of their intention to use the hotel to support asylum seekers.

“Our involvement has been to check that accommodation is safe and that there is no variation to the operating license of the venue.

“We’ve worked with a wide range of partners such as health, fire and police to ensure any needs are met and concerns are identified and addressed.

“We continue to work with partners and monitor the situation, but are advised by Serco that occupancy levels and individuals will change as asylum applications are processed.”

Warrington Guardian:

Serco stated that it does not confirm the use of individual hotels by its immigration business ‘for the safety and wellbeing of the asylum seekers’.

However, the company’s contract director for asylum accommodation services Jenni Halliday added: “With the significant increases in the number of people arriving in the UK, we have been faced with no alternative but to temporarily accommodate some asylum seekers in hotels.

“These hotels are only used as a last resort, but as a provider of accommodation services on behalf of the Home Office we have a responsibility to find accommodation for the asylum seekers that are being placed in our care.

“The Serco team is working extremely hard to move people into dispersed social housing as rapidly as possible.”

One concerned Woolston resident meanwhile told the Warrington Guardian: “As a local resident and a mother of a 14-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl, I'd actually like to know who is residing there.

“Obviously myself and a number of other residents are concerned.”