Colchester's selection as a place to house a share of 1,000 asylum seekers is testament to the town's facilities, it has been claimed.

The Home Office has chosen the town as one of eight areas in the east of England where it wants to place refugees, instead of concentrating them all in London and large coastal towns.

Colchester Council's housing, community safety and health policy panel has recommended the town works in partnership with the East of England Consortium and the Home Office.

And the decision has been backed by all five members of the council's cabinet. Most of the refugees will probably be coming from the Balkans and Afghanistan.

Tim Young, portfolio holder for housing, community safety and health, said the town had a strong tradition of making foreign visitors welcome.

He said: "It means we have the facilities here to support asylum seekers and we should play a part with the consortium and the Home Office in helping to house them. We have got the local knowledge and we have some control over the dispersal of asylum seekers into Colchester.

"There are people with worries about asylum seekers coming into Colchester but I am not interested in the ones coming from xenophobes and racists. Some of these people are fleeing for their lives."

The local authority will be working closely with community organisations, health bodies, churches, voluntary groups, schools and benefits agencies to ensure support systems are in place.

On arrival they will need GPs, dentists, in some cases school places and help learning a new language. They could arrive in Colchester from the region's reception centre near Cambridge in the next few months.

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