East Sussex asylum centre neighbour tells BBC Question Time panel 'we will have 1,200 men roaming around the estate until 11pm'

Bridget Pieterse said she lives four doors away from the proposed site at Northeye, a former prison and training centre in Bexhill.

She said: “For us residents it’s a big concern because we will have 1,200 men, only men roaming around the estate until 11pm at night. We have very young children on the estate, we have toddlers, primary school children, secondary school children, young girls and young boys and we are very concerned about their safety.

"Further down the road we have five care homes. We will just be constantly worried what will happen to our children.”

One of Bridget’s neighbours in the Question Time audience added: “I am a foster carer. How am I supposed to explain to the local authority that I am safe to keep a child with me with 1,200 random strange foreign men living opposite me?”

In response, Helen Whately, social care minister and MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, who was on the Question Time panel, said: “I absolutely know about the unhappiness about the prospect of the Northeye camp to house asylum seekers as we try to move people out of hotels into more suitable accommodation.

"We know how expensive hotel accommodation is and we know that people continuing to live in hotels is not the right thing to do. It’s also preventing local towns from using the hotels for tourism or for the local economy.

"We do have to find somewhere else for asylum seekers. A similar problem is happening in other countries in Europe where asylum seekers are being accommodated in hotels.”

Residents have raised concerns over the Home Office’s plans to accommodate up to 1,200 asylum seekers at Northeye since the proposals were first announced on March 29. Since then residents in the area have raised concerns, who held a public gathering held outside Northeye on April 1.

A protest was also held outside the De La Warr Pavilion yesterday evening before Question Time was aired from the venue.

Northeye is one of three sites to be chosen in the UK by the Government to house asylum seekers.

Bexhill MP Huw Merriman met with Home Office officials last month, as well as leaders from local authorities and public services to discuss the plans.

He said the first 400 people are expected to arrive at the centre in September, followed by another 400, with the final 400 arriving by December.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “By designing the site to be as self-sufficient as possible, we would minimise the impact on local communities and services. This includes consideration of impacts to the community during both construction and operational phases. As proposals develop, we will work closely with local stakeholders to manage any impact on the local area.”

The Home Office added the site will accommodate single adult male asylum seekers.

The panel members who appeared on BBC Question Time last night included Helen Whately MP, Labour’s shadow leader of the House of Commons Thangam Debbonaire MP, writer, musician and former vicar Richard Coles, who was part of The Communards and Bronski Beat, journalist and activist Ash Sarkar, and radio presenter and columnist Nick Ferrari.