Wolverhampton asylum hotel which has been subjected to migrant protests has now closed

An hotel which has been the target of anti-immigration demonstrations has been closed to asylum seekers, the Express & Star can reveal.

The Britannia Hotel in Wolverhampton has been used for more then four years by the Home Office to house asylum seekers arriving in the UK.

Over the past 12 months it has repeatedly been the scene of anti-migrant protests, including a demonstration on Saturday.

But a source at the Home Office has now confirmed that it is no longer being used for this purpose.

Wolverhampton Council said it understood that people from the hotel were being moved ‘predominantly out of the area’.

The Britannia, formerly the Victoria Hotel, once hosted Winston Churchill. But the hotel, next to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in Lichfield Street, has been used to house migrants since August 2021, when about 200 asylum seekers, mostly families with children, moved into the building.

A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said: “Responsibility for the accommodation of asylum seekers rests with the Home Office rather than the council.

”The use of hotels for this purpose is therefore a matter for the Home Office, and the council is unable to comment on the status of the contract between the Home Office and Serco.

"However, the council understands that Serco has been moving people from the hotel into alternative Home Office-approved accommodation that is predominantly out of the area.”

A spokeswoman for Britannia Hotels said the hotel was now being refurbished, ahead of plans to reopen it to the public.

It is understood there is still another asylum hotel operating in the city.

Serco, which is responsible for housing asylum seekers on behalf of the Government, declined to comment.

The news comes after Telford MP Shaun Davies announced that the Madeley Court Hotel in his constituency was also no longer being used as a migrant hotel.

Mr Davies said welcomed the news. He said ‘hopping from hotel to hotel is simply not a suitable for people who seek asylum, and the hotel in Madeley should be restored for community purpose.

Mr Davies said that the previous occupants of the hotel have had their claims for asylum looked into – either granting them refugee status to work and live in the UK, or, if unsuccessful, seeing them deported from the UK.

He said: “I welcome the closure, not only so the hotel can be returned to community use, but because it is simply not the right place for individuals to live for months on end.”