Dates confirmed for end of asylum hotels in Herefordshire

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Monday, 4 December 2023 17:36

By Gavin McEwan - Local Democracy Reporter

The dates when two Herefordshire hotels will stop being used to house asylum seekers have been confirmed.

“We understand the use of the Talbot Hotel is until the end of February 2024 and the use of the Three Counties Hotel is until the end of March 2024,” according to Herefordshire Council chief executive Paul Walker.

In a speech he is due to give to councillors this Friday (December 8), he says: “Local communities have continued to welcome people who are staying in contingency accommodation in the county while awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications.

“The support that has been shown to these people at a time of need underlines what a generous and compassionate county we live in.”

The council said in late October that after emergency work to improve the Talbot Hotel in Leominster, the Home Office and its contractor Serco would use it as temporary accommodation for those awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications until the end of February.

But this appears to be its first announcement on conclusion of the similar arrangement at the Three Counties to the west of Hereford, which began in March this year.