A country house hotel in Eden was used as a home for asylum seekers – for 48 hours.
We revealed this morning that the Lovelady Shield Hotel in Alston was one of several in the county providing short-term accommodation for people recently arrived in the UK.
A joint statement from Cumbria County Council and Eden District Council said: “We have been made aware that the Home Office has taken the decision to use a hotel in the Alston area to provide temporary accommodation for people seeking asylum in the UK.
“The Home Office has not discussed this decision with either council, and we do not have clarity about who will be accommodated or for how long. We are expecting further information from the Home Office later this week.”
But this afternoon, another statement was released by the authorities.
It said: “The Home Office has now informed us that the hotel in the Alston area is no longer being used to accommodate people seeking asylum.
“We were informed that the hotel had been used for this purpose over the last 48 hours; these people are no longer on the site.
“We have no further information from the Home Office but have stressed the need to keep local councils informed of their intentions to allow proper planning.
Before the update was announced, an Alston Moor resident told the Herald: “Speculation is running riot here because we haven’t been told anything.”
- Edenhall Country House Hotel has asked us to point out that it has never had discussions with the Home Office to take in asylum seekers and is still welcoming guests as normal.
