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The Government is reportedly poised to annouce the closure of scores of hotels accommmodating migrants, with Wigan centres among their number.

The Daily Mail says contracts with hotels will be slashed in areas such as Wigan and Stoke in the hope that anger over the small boat crisis will be addressed.

The announcement – said to be made tomorrow (October 24) – is designed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to improve Tory election hopes in key election battleground seats, although Wigan hasn’t been one of those for many years.

The move will see such hotels stop taking migrants by the end of March.

Macdonald Kilhey Court before it was converted into an asylum-seeker hotel

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Taxpayers are currently forking out £8m a day to keep Channel migrants in hotels including the Britannia Hotel at Almond Brook and Kilhey Court, Worthington.

The latter of these only changed function last month but has been steeped in controversery since Wigan Today first revealed details of the project.

Petitions have been submitted and demonstrations held, predominantly by those opposed to the plans from across a broad political spectrum. Their reasons have differed, but among objectons have been Kilhey Court’s unsuitability as a location, being so far from local amenities; the fact that Standish already has inadequate infrastructure due to a housing explosion; and the fact that Standish also has an asylum-seeker hotel in the shape of the Britannia.

Members of the community gathered in Market Place, Standish, in September to take part in a protest against plans to accommodate asylum seekers at Kilhey Court. At the same time a counter protest was held by Wigan Stand Up to Racism

There have been counter-demonstrations also though, some to point out that asylum-seekers are welcome in Wigan and others to oppose any far right factions becoming involved in local politics.

Responding to the Daily Mail report, a spokesperson for local residents’ group Standish Voice said: “If the Government is having a change of policy on housing asylum seekers in hotels, we hope they will look at the situation at Kilhey Court first and overturn the wrong-headed decision to use this venue.

“We, our councillors, the council and our MP have said Kilhey Court is totally inappropriate as a hostel for asylum seekers.

“Kilhey Court must revert to being a hotel and then rebuild its former reputation as an asset to our community and the wider area.”

The Government has come under heavy fire over recent years for not curbing large scale immigration, despite making numerous pledges.

Is the Government poised to axe Wigan's migrant hotels?