Making A Stand: Locals Block Access To Hotel Due To House Hundreds Of ‘Asylum Seekers’

Protestors have been camping outside the Stradey Park Hotel in Llaneli, Carmarthenshire, as a tense stand-off with the Home Office continues.

The local residents along with the wider community are angry over controversial plans to house hundreds of illegal male migrants or ‘assylum seekers’ on their doorstep.

They say their goal is for the Home Office to reverse its plan and to share their view that the Stradey Park Hotel is “completely unsuitable for use as accommodation for asylum seekers”. The protestors have told the Home Office that they have no intention of backing down and are adamant that they will remain outside the hotel until their message is heard.

According to Wales Online: the news was first reported in May when Carmathenshire Council confirmed a proposal had been made by the UK Home Office for the Stradey Park Hotel to be used as a temporary home for asylum seekers.

From the very start, the council made it clear that it was vehemently opposed to the plan and even launched a legal fight in the High Court to get it blocked. When that legal challenge failed on Friday, hundreds of protestors began turning up outside the hotel.

Protests had previously been held when details of the Home Office’s plans became known, but over the past six days people have been permanently camped outside the venue, located in the Furnace area of Carmarthenshire’s largest town.

Furnace itself is home to only a few hundred people, so one of the main concerns raised by locals is the potential huge shift in the dynamic of the village if more than 200 people move into the area. The atmosphere in Furnace has been tense at times. Protestors have been vocal and determined; some have tents at the entrance to the hotel and there are people outside the venue at all times, on all days.

Media personality and political commentator Katie Hopkins paid a visit Llanelli to report first hand on what is happening there: