Concerns over use of remote Wiltshire hotel to house dozens of asylum seekers

• Watch Louisa Britton's report

Residents have expressed their concerns over the use of a remote countryside hotel in Wiltshire to house dozens of asylum seekers. 

The Wiltshire, on the outskirts of Royal Wootton Bassett, is part of a leisure complex which includes a retirement village.

Those living there say the site is unsuitable because of its location and lack of facilities - and have complained about the impact it is having on the elderly residents. 

It comes as the Home Office says the number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels.

North Wiltshire's Conservative MP James Gray believes around 120 people are being housed at the hotel.

He told ITV News West Country: "I don't believe a remote country hotel in middle of nowhere, with no leisure facilities, no educational facilities, no religious facilities, no facilities at all and hardly any transport, is suitable for these people.

"They come off the boats in Dover, and they're brought here in the middle of the Wiltshire countryside, dumped in the middle of nowhere and nothing whatever to do.

"So I think it's very bad for them, but also it's very bad for the local area, we have a retirement village just next to it. They've lost the right to use the facilities."

The hotel is part of a complex which includes a retirement village with around 100 elderly residents.

David Charlton, who has lived there for five years, is among those worried about the impact it is having on the village.

He said: "There's no one to contact, we can't ask anyone what is going on.

"For the main part the young men who are within the hotel are well behaved, but occasionally being young men, they let off steam they can be very noisy.

"Our concern is that the tranquility of the village is gone."

Residents say they have received no information from the Home Office.

Martyn Shah, Director of Wiltshire Leisure Village, said: "We weren't told unfortunately, it just happened. It literally just happened in the dead of night about November last year.

"This was something which, you would hope that would be a little bit of debate or at least an allowance for not just the village and retirees, but also the other local towns just to have a say in what is happening."

Louise Calvey, Refugee and Asylum specialist, said the use of hotels across the UK is having a damaging effect.

She explained: "Across the asylum hotels at the moment, we're seeing a massive spike in mental health crisis and suicidal ideation.

"We're seeing people that have survived extraordinary trauma. You know, they've risked everything to try and get themselves and their families to safety.

"And now they're left months on end in a very isolated situation, often not knowing what's going on, not hearing back from the Home Office, not understanding how life in the UK works.

"And so the layers of damage just compounds on a human."

When contacted for comment the Home Office said they were not able to provide information about how many people were being housed in the hotel or for how long.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.  

“We have been clear that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £6 million a day.

“The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer.”