Fury as BBC director-general hotel used to house 300 asylum seekers

A popular hotel co-owned by a former BBC director-general has closed its doors to paying guests without warning and instead been turned over to house almost 300 asylum seekers.

The Best Western Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham - owned by a group chaired by Greg Dyke - has been a fixture in the prosperous Greater Manchester town since the 1970s.

As recently as last week, local businesses were being encouraged to book their Christmas parties there.

However despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to end the use of hotels, barges and military sites as accommodation for asylum seekers, the Cresta Court is now housing mainly-male migrants under a Home Office-approved deal - to the fury of many locals.

It comes after ministers warned that the immigration system would ‘descend into chaos’ if they failed to open more asylum hotels.

Upcoming bookings at the Cresta Court - including at least two weddings - have been abruptly cancelled, with room reservations no longer being taken.

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Staff were last week seen removing posters emblazoned ‘Christmas is coming’ advertising the hotel’s events venue.

Meanwhile bored-looking young men - understood to be from Syria, Yemen, Iran and Somalia - have been seen congregating outside.

The hotel is part of Vine Hotels, which Mr Dyke - a former FA chairman and BBC director-general from 2000-2004 - chairs as well as being a major shareholder.

It is understood to have signed a year-long deal with private contractor Serco to house asylum seekers after receiving Home Office ‘ministerial approval’.

On Monday a public meeting was held at which locals expressed safety fears over the hotel’s proximity to several schools as well as placing local health services and police under strain.

Nearby residents say they were given no advance warning.

Yesterday a 59-year-old who only gave her first name Angela told the Daily Mail: ‘I’m devastated.

‘I don’t feel I can take my grandchildren down the park now and I’m going to get extra security at home.

‘I think it’s just the wrong place to put them, so close to the town centre.

‘Even if they don’t intend to be, their presence will feel threatening.

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‘I’m also worried about the impact on the town in general and on visitors who might be put off from coming.’

Another woman said: ‘I am just not happy to be honest.

‘We were given no notice at all.’

An 88-year-old woman living close to the hotel said: ‘It’s difficult because they have to go somewhere.

‘But I admit it has caused me concern because I was worried it could lead to crime going up.’

One of the new residents, a 27-year-old man, said he’d only arrived in Britain on Saturday via a small boat after fleeing violence in his native Syria.

He said it was a ‘good’ hotel and that he hoped to eventually find work in a restaurant once his asylum claim is processed.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.

'We have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing which will save an estimated £7 billion for the tax payer over the next ten years, and are delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK.

‘Over the long term this will reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation.

'We remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers and continue to identify a range of accommodation options to minimise their use.'