Villagers worried about asylum seeker plans

A number of people living in a village earmarked as a home for dozens of asylum seekers say they are worried their small community will not be able to cope.

Up to 83 people are expected to move into empty homes in Stoke Heath, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, over the coming months, but residents the BBC spoke to claim there is a lack of amenities and public transport in the area.

The MP for the area, Mark Pritchard, brought the issue up in Parliament this week and Shropshire Council had also written to the government, highlighting their concerns over the issue.

Responding to those worries on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said the immigration minister would look at the case.

The villagers who spoke said they feared the number of asylum seekers being relocated to Stoke Heath would end up being higher than 83.

One of them, Kevin Plews, said: "We're not against people being put in houses, like if there was just four families coming here it wouldn't be a problem, but there's 121 people coming."

Claire Moore added: "We don't know who they are, where they've come from, why they're here, whether they have criminal records, we don't know anything like that."

Another, Samantha Waters said: "I'm absolutely terrified to be absolutely honest.

"I'm scared for myself and the other people on the estate and the children and I feel that we're going to become prisoners in our own homes."

The government has promised to move all asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament and is using private company Serco to buy small properties, such as houses and flats, to be used as alternative accommodation.

Two public meetings have been called in the village to discuss the concerns.

The Shropshire councillor for the area, Donna Edmunds, said she would be contacting outsourcing firm Serco and the Home Office to try to get more information.

In a Facebook post, Pritchard, the Conservative MP for The Wrekin, said: "It is unacceptable that Labour Home Office ministers have not consulted with Stoke Heath residents or the local parish council about these ill-conceived plans."

Serco said it worked under the direction of the Home Office and allocations of asylum seekers were based on "overall national demand".

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