FEARS have been raised over the suitability of housing refugees in “isolated” hotels as a council calls for more Government support to help asylum seekers.

Colchester councillor Darius Laws told October’s meeting of Colchester Council’s scrutiny panel some locations are unsuitable for temporary accommodation.

He said: “I know the Home Office determines where these hotel places are procured and I note, with some sadness actually, they seemingly have located hotels which are in my opinion in quite isolated locations, with poor bus routes and frankly with not enough human beings around them.”

Mr Laws said Colchester “should be proud” of its reputation as a safe haven for refugees across “hundreds of years”.

Julie Young, Colchester Council’s housing boss, told the meeting the borough had experience with refugee success stories, with new restaurants and businesses opened in the city.

She added: “I share your concern, I think certainly Afghan refugees were finding it quite challenging being in the Rose and Crown actually.

“You’ve got a lot of single men in there, holed up in a hotel room really not knowing their way into town and that is just walking up East Hill.

“If you’re out at Marks Tey, there’s nothing around you quite frankly.

“It will put pressures on community teams.”

Last year it was revealed the Rose and Crown Hotel, in East Street, had taken on more than 50 refugees before it was stood down as a bridging site when its last residents were rehomed.

David King, leader of Colchester Council, said Colchester is "proud to be a place of sanctuary" but he admitted to being worried about the volume of asylum-seekers the Government is currently sending to the city.

He fears more arrivals will put further pressure on Colchester’s “already stretched” services.

His concerns come after the Gazette revealed how more than 100 asylum-seeking men are now staying at The Holiday Inn Express, in Langham.

Refugees are also being temporarily housed at the Marks Tey hotel.

Mr King said: “We understand the pressures of the asylum system and that they use hotels as a short-term solution; but we get no advance warning from the Home Office."