The Home Office has been accused of ‘pouring fuel on the fire’ by looking to quadruple the number of asylum seekers placed in houses in an area that saw widespread disorder over the issue last month.
Officials admitted at a meeting with county councillors in Norfolk that they want the use of 240 rooms in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) for asylum seekers in Breckland.
This would represent a huge increase of 428 per cent on the 56 beds available at present.
The local authority district of Breckland includes Thetford, where there were several consecutive nights of angry protests early last month over the occupants of residential addresses. Some had to be escorted away by police.
The town is less than two miles away from RAF Barnham, the focus of months of protests at plans to house at least 1,250 migrants on the former military base.
