The public will 'quite rightly' question why asylum seekers are being sent on taxi journeys worth hundred of pounds at the taxpayer's expense, a Cabinet minister said.Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the Home Office was correct to launch a review after it emerged would-be refugees were being given long-distance taxi rides to attend appointments, including NHS check-ups.Another senior minister described the spending as 'pretty extraordinary'. It emerged yesterday that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had ordered officials to investigate urgently the use of cabs to transport asylum seekers from taxpayer-funded hotel accommodation.The review was launched after one asylum seeker told the BBC he had been sent on a 250 mile journey - said to have cost £600 - in order to attend an NHS check-up for a knee problem.'I'm not surprised that that was a feature that caught people's eye, and the Home Office are looking at that and I think they should look at it,' Mr McFadden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:'I think a lot of your listeners will quite rightly ask, why should people be taken around in taxis?'Later, asked about the spending on BBC Radio 5 Live, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'The costs that you've just outlined there, seem pretty extraordinary.'A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'The Home Secretary has asked the department to urgently look into the use of taxis to transfer asylum seekers.'The Mail on Sunday first revealed in 2020 that millions of pounds a year were being spent on taxi journeys to ferry asylum seekers around the country. Migrants housed at Epping's The Bell Hotel, pictured this month. Asylum seekers housed in hotels are having babies because they think it will boost their chances of gaining a British passport, a BBC documentary has revealed The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, became a focus for anti-migrant protests last monthOther migrants in hotels visited by the BBC said they were working in Britain, despite being barred from taking employment.One Iraqi man, identified by the pseudonym 'Kadir' to protect his identity, said he would have preferred to have gone to his NHS appointment by train.But he 'had no choice' other than to accept the transportation laid on by the Home Office.The taxi journeys take place because when migrants move between hotels they sometimes keep the same NHS doctors, the broadcaster said.Kadir's journey was to see a consultant who had treated him at his old address, he said, and the driver told him the round-trip had cost £600.'Should the Home Office give me the ticket for the train? This is the easy way, and they know they spend too much money,' said Kadir.'We know as well, but we don't have any choice. It's crazy.'Migrants were not offered the option to travel by public transport, or to walk, to the appointments and taxis were booked by an 'automated system' at the hotel front desk, it was reported. A migrant accused of sex offences in Epping sparked protests about the use of the hotel last month. In a separate development, the migrant has been sentenced today.The BBC reported it had asked the Government how much it spends on taxi travel for asylum seekers through a Freedom of Information request, but was told the Home Office does not keep any data.It is understood the rate for taxi services are set in a contract and are calculated on a per person per mile rate, rather than on the taxi meter.Kadir and his wife had two children when they arrived in the UK from Iraq nine years ago and have had a third since being here.The family occupies two adjoining hotel rooms - one for the couple and their baby, and the other for 12-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son.Kadir said he worked as a translator in his home country and claimed he had been targeted by criminals.His asylum claim was rejected by the Home Office due to lack of proof. He has had two appeals rejected, and has a third appeal underway.He added that some migrants he knew had converted to Christianity in a bid to increase their chances of staying in the country.They claimed the religion change would lead to persecution if they went back home. A woman from Iraq also claimed she paid people smugglers to cross the Channel in order to get treatment for her stage four cancer. Mohammed, from Afghanistan, said he had arranged a job even before he arrived in the UK a few weeks ago.