Bibby Stockholm problems lead Home Office to shelve new migrant barge plans
The vessel at Portland Port has proved controversial since its introduction
The Home Office has shelved plans to procure more barges to hold asylum seekers as the Bibby Stockholm at Portland Port has been beset by problems, delays and disputes.
Ministers last year touted accommodation vessels as a way of cutting the cost of housing migrants in hotels, which has hit £8 million a day.
But it's understood that efforts to secure new barges have been abandoned amid struggles to find ports willing to take them.
It comes as the Bibby Stockholm, the only accommodation barge commissioned so far by ministers, has faced a series of setbacks.
An Albanian asylum seeker died while living on board the barge in December and is thought to have taken his own life.
27 year old Leonard Farruku's death is currently being investigated.
The discovery of dangerous bacteria led to its evacuation last summer just days after the arrival of the first asylum seekers, and it remained vacant for two months.
More than £22 million of taxpayers' money is being spent on the giant barge, while conditions on board have been criticised by campaigners.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
"We continue to look at a range of alternative accommodation sites to house asylum seekers, including vessels which have been used safely and successfully by Scottish and Dutch Governments, and former military sites."
The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is being wound down by ministers, with the number to be cut by 50 by the end of January.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this month said ministers had "cleared" the asylum backlog of 92,000 legacy cases, although the claim is being investigated by the official statistics watchdog after allegations from opponents that it is a "barefaced lie".