Concerns are being raised by some about the use of Skegness hotels housing asylum seekers

A Lincolnshire town is at the forefront of a debate around asylum seekers after several hotels took up deals to house them

Skegness is a popular holiday destination, but now some firms are worrying the situation could really affect their business

Members of the community have also expressed concerns over safety, tourism and economy.

Local MP for Boston and Skegness, Matt Warman is, today, holding a public meeting to address the community and answer questions that they might have.

In a public post on Facebook, he said:

"I know the strength of feeling that the use of five hotels in Skegness to house asylum seekers has caused and I share the frustration that was expressed recently. I therefore asked the Town Council to move its proposed meeting on this subject from the 30th November to a more appropriate venue at an earlier date, so that I can answer your questions and say what the local councils and other agencies are doing to make the best of this challenging situation. I’m grateful to the Mayor, Cllr Tye, for agreeing to this change and to Cllr Macey for helping organise it.

"The use of hotels is not acceptable; it puts pressure on local communities and public services up and down the country, and is not the right place for asylum seekers themselves either. The Home Office is working to end this practice, but in the meantime there is a legal requirement to provide people who have made asylum claims with basic accommodation while their case is assessed.

"As I’ve said on Look North and elsewhere, I’ve made the case in the strongest possible terms to the Immigration Minister that it’s unfair to put too many people in one area, especially one that relies on tourism and where, for instance, doctors, dentists and other public services are under immense pressure. The Government wants to improve processing of applications and to look at using, for instance, disused military bases to provide decent but not luxurious accommodation. This, however, will take some time.

"At The Storehouse I’ll try to answer as many questions as I can, but I need to be honest with people that there are no instant solutions. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that immigration pressures mean our system is unable to cope with the current situation, and that Skegness is in this current position as a result. It is not good enough."

We also spoke to the local community about some of their concerns.

One person said:

"I'm a pensioner, and I'm having to come out to get a coffee, so I can get warm, because I don't dare put my heating on, I'm limited to two hours a day, and I sit with blankets around me, and I walk past the hotels there, and they're all there sat with no coats on, so obviously it's warm in there. That's the bit that I don't like about it."

Another addressed their concern for the future:

"I know they've come from war torn countries and that, but such as here, Skegness, is known a place for holiday makers, you know, we don't want it to become overtaken by these people. I mean, obviously I feel sorry for them, but they need to be put in like a big hostel all together."

Other topics included the cost of housing asylum seekers, how it'll impact businesses and tourism:

"I think business will lose a lot of money over it. So, it shouldn't happen. I've not got anything against them, but it shouldn't be happening."

The meeting is scheduled for 17:30 tonight, and is being held at The Storehouse, North Parade, Skegness.

We also spoke to MP Matt Warman about the situation, where he detailed the situation:

"We've got five hotels in Skegness, one outside Boston. The five in Skegness housing some 250 asylum seekers - not quite that many, but there abouts. The purpose of this meeting is partly, to simply provide people with the facts about who is there, where they come from, how long they're likely to be there, although, that's one of the crucial things about which, there isn't a huge amount of certainty."

• lincolnshire