Hotel near Horsham procured by the Government to house asylum seekers

The Cisswood House Hotel at Lower Beeding is currently housing refugee families after being procured by the Home Office.

The hotel has been shut to the public since January last year when it suddenly ceased trading.

Its managing company - Royel Hotels - said at the time that it was taking steps to place the company into voluntary liquidation.

Lower Beeding Parish Council, in a notice on its website, confirms that the hotel is being used as a refuge for asylum seekers and that the families’ needs are being assessed.

The council says that village vicar – the Rev Sue Wharton – visited the hotel on Saturday afternoon and spoke to the manager.

Parish council clerk Peter Knox said: “There are now several families being housed there of different nationalities. Apparently, they were moved at very short notice from accommodation in Tower Hamlets, London, with the children being up rooted from their schools, where they had settled.

“One family who are from Salvador were in two rooms but are now in one room at the Cisswoood House Hotel. The families are being provided with food, but it seems not a lot else.”

Discussions are now ongoing about finding new school places for the children.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need it and we are committed to providing safe and secure accommodation while cases are considered.“We have made clear to our providers that the use of hotels is only ever acceptable as a short-term contingency measure. The cost of using hotel accommodation to board asylum-seekers is borne by individual contractors who make such decisions, including which premises are used.

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“All applications for asylum are considered on their individual merits. Where people establish a genuine need for protection, or a well founded fear of persecution, refuge will be granted.

"If someone is found not to need our protection, we expect them to leave the country voluntarily. Where they do not, we will seek to enforce their departure.”