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Sky News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
'Simmering' division in town where hotel for asylum seekers is beacon for unrest
In Altrincham near Manchester, two opposing groups have gathered to throw insults at each other across the A56. "Fascists! Racists!" shouts one lot. On the opposing verge, they shout back: "Shame on you!" Then both sides chant: "Whose streets? Our streets!" Cars flash between them, some adding hoots to the noise. It's 5pm on Sunday and much of the nation is united watching the Lionesses in the Euro finals. Yet here is a dual carriageway of division formed in front of what has become a beacon for unrest - a hotel housing asylum seekers. Sky News has been testing the mood in Altrincham since locals were first informed last November that the Cresta Court Hotel was being repurposed from accommodating short business stays and local events into lodgings for hundreds of male asylum seekers who crossed the Channel on small boats. Over the course of eight months there have been angry town meetings, regular low-level protests and last Sunday around 80 people from each side turned up outside the hotel with banners, flags and loudspeakers. "We stopped the Germans, why can't we stop dinghies," says local man Dave Haydock under a St George's cross cap. "We're paying for them to be in there and there's British people out on the streets," added local businessman Steve, who is waving a Union Flag. "They're not fleeing a war to come to Britain - they're coming from France - they are coming because of all the benefits - and everyone in the UK now knows that." Cost, benefits and risk to women are recurring themes. "These people coming over without any documentation," says local Clare Jones as she points in the direction of two schools. "I'm not a racist. I'm just a concerned mum. I don't feel safe in my own community." A man behind a mask who didn't want to appear on camera says the media "sneers" at these protests because the media is middle class and "this is a working-class movement". Altrincham is one of Manchester's most affluent towns, but there are much poorer areas close by. The social demographic at the protests was mixed. On either side of the A56 I met business owners, nurses, teachers and pensioners. Both groups were also largely made up of locals. A handful of social media "professional" protesters also turned up, pointing cameras at anything they could film - making selfie videos for their TikTok and YouTube followers. A small line of police officers was in place to keep the peace. The counter-protesters forming a line to protect the hotel. Described as "lefties" by the anti-migrant demonstrators, the counter-protesters feel that the people opposite are either "far right, fascists" or "being manipulated by the far right". Altrincham resident Alison O'Connell said "this is very frightening" as she pointed at the anti-migrant demonstrators. "We are just here to show support for the refugees in the hotel," she added. Counter-protester Steph Phoenix said: "Knowing personally people in the hotels, I know they are not coming for our money. These people are desperate. They don't come over for a laugh, they are coming over because they are escaping something terrible in their own country." Nahella Ashraf, co-chair of Greater Manchester Stand Up To Racism, said: "There needs to be an honest conversation about what the problems are in society. Refugees are not to blame. People are worried about the cost of living crisis, but it's not caused by refugees. By housing people in these hotels, we've not taken accommodation away from anyone in Britain." Migrants disappeared into their rooms during the protest, some peering out of their bedroom windows. Their voices are rarely heard in this debate. The next day, hotel security advised them not to talk to us. Those we did speak to all had stories of fleeing instability and threat. Some had just arrived, others had been here months. Many were anxious about the protests, but equally not put off from their decision to come. One said he had recently told a local who had been abusive: "I struggled to get here. It was just luck you were born here." The fears of increased crime expressed by residents in November don't appear to have transpired. But Conservative councillor Nathan Evans, who called the first town meeting, says groups of men in the park, men praying in the public library and warning letters from schools to parents about groups of men near the school gates have all caused "an unease across the town". He says he has warned the police of a "simmering issue". Protesters on either side don't agree on much but both see the hotel as a symbol of broken promises from successive governments - a failure to manage migration in a way that doesn't inflame communities. What remains is anger.
Daily Mail
03-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'We're worried...we've been kept in the dark': Inside leafy Cheshire town convulsed by fear after 300 male migrants arrived at hotel in dead of night
They were a party of hundreds of mostly male asylum seekers, smuggled in secrecy in a fleet of coaches in the dead of night into a four-star hotel in a leafy village in the Cheshire commuter belt. But six months on from that covert operation to take over a hotel in Altrincham to house migrants MailOnline has discovered that many of those original arrivals have been evicted - only to start living in tents nearby. It marks the latest twist in the ongoing saga surrounding the well-to-do market town that overnight became home to around 300 single male asylum seekers. Residents living in the so-called 'Golden Triangle' town, home to a number of footballers, soap stars and wealthy professionals, were left in the dark about the original decision to take over the popular Cresta Court Hotel. But they can't miss what's happening now as many successful asylum seekers have fallen foul of what's called the '56 day rule' - and end up living rough on their streets. This is the Home Office regulation which states that asylum seekers who are successful in being granted refugee status are from that moment only given 56 days more accommodation in asylum seeker hotels. After that period, refugees are supposed to find their own accommodation. But in practice many find it impossible to find accommodation within this time limit so having no alternative accommodation - while new migrants have taken their places inside hotels - they are effectively rendered homeless. Many successful asylum seekers have fallen foul of what's called the '56 day rule' - and end up living rough on their streets Home Office regulation states that asylum seekers who are granted refugee status are from that moment only given 56 days more accommodation in asylum seeker hotels So because of those stuck with nowhere to go, many tents have popped up around the area, most prominently outside the town hall in the neighbouring town of Sale. When MailOnline visited the council offices this week there were five tents propped up, housing seven men, who had previously been housed at the hotel, and one woman. The three migrants who spoke with us had travelled to the UK from war-torn Sudan, while the others camping nearby are said to have been from the East African countries of Eritrea and Ethiopia. One of the migrants, who spoke to us in broken English, said that he had been living in the hotel for a few months but after being granted a temporary e-visa was waiting to be housed. The young man, no older than his mid twenties, said he had been camping on the streets for 30 days - while the other two young men accompanying him had been there between one and three weeks. 'I don't know where we shall live,' another one of the asylum seekers told MailOnline. 'We can't shower and it is difficult to find a toilet. 'We can't wash our clothes and I've been here 30 days but haven't been able to wash our clothes.' Leader of the Trafford Conservatives Nathan Evans said: 'It seems a number of the migrants get kicked out of the hotel and they have to find their own accommodation. 'But there isn't any accommodation so they end up on the streets - camped outside the town hall in Sale or in Manchester city centre or wherever.' Mr Evans said that even if they can find accommodation the pressure on limited housing stock is forcing rents up for all. The hotel, on a road where the average house costs £708,000, only found out about their new neighbours when coachloads arrived late one night last October. The decision has caused division in the community - with almost weekly protests being held outside of the hotel by frustrated residents as well as anti-migration and anti-racism demonstrators. Those perhaps most affected by the decision are the people living on or near Burlington Road, where houses sell for an average of £708,000, which directly faces the hotel. Kenneth Lee, who also lives nearby, said: ''It was a big surprise because we only heard about it when the newspaper said something. 'I believe the council are not worried about us residents and our council taxes are paying for it whether we like it or not. 'If the house wants to change to an office or another use, we have to apply for permission from the council. But something like that, the council supposedly did this overnight. 'When they go to election they send us loads of leaflets but nothing when it is something that really affects the local area. But there's not much we can do. We can't even help our own homeless.' Karen, who did not disclose her surname, said: ' Some of them [who were spirited into the hotel last autumn] are now homeless and living in tents near the town hall. 'It is a sad situation. It is not easy for anyone - you wouldn't want to be them but it is a politically hot potato.' Maria and Ray Williams said the decision to suddenly close the hotel was 'soul destroying' for locals for whom it had long been a community hub. Mr Williams said: 'We got married there and our daughter did as well. What they are doing is such a disgrace.' Mrs Williams added: 'It's just awful for people who had their weddings, baptisms and things like that planned. They did events for everything. We'd go in for a nice meal, disco nights, all of those things, it was very very sad and even now it was a lovely place to go.' Pensioner Peter Hutchinson added: 'It's pointless trying to complain to anybody, what are they going to do?' The Cresta Court is owned by Vine Hotels – whose chairman is former BBC Director General Greg Dyke. The company owns a number of Best Western hotels around the country. The hotel was reportedly given a contract worth £10million for the year to October, meaning the owners would earn £2 million more in profit than they would from normal paying customers. Those perhaps most affected by the decision are the people living on or near Burlington Road, where houses sell for an average of £708,000, which directly faces the hotel Earlier in the year, local Conservative councillors held a meeting in a church hall so locals could air their concerns. But tempers flared when it was wrongly suggested that asylum seekers would receive medical treatment from a private doctors' service at a time when it was announced that Altrincham Hospital's minor injuries unit would be closing permanently. The unfounded claim had been circulating on social media with a Facebook post Altrincham residents were told 'migrants staying at the Cresta Court will be receiving private health coverage FOR FREE!!' being shared more than 1,700 times. In reality, Gtd Healthcare, a not-for-profit organisation, rather than local services that had been given a 12-week contract to provide publicly funded NHS healthcare to the migrants. The false claims have led to a number of so-called anti-migrant influencers turning up with film cameras to the hotel's reception almost daily. Local anti-racism campaigner Mark Krantz told the Independent previously: 'It's a persistent thing. The lead security staff member told me it was almost every day that they have hostile individuals coming down.' Far-right groups Britain First and Patriotic Alternative have also been amongst those staging protests across the road from the hotel. A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: 'A number of tents appeared outside Sale Waterside in early April. Our housing options team have spoken to people in the tents and our understanding is that they are predominately former asylum seekers who have been granted leave to remain. 'They are non-priority need homeless, which means the Council doesn't have a duty to accommodate, though our team are trying to source private rented accommodation which we would do for any other applicant who wasn't in priority need. As a result, we have managed to source accommodation for some people who were previously there in tents. 'We are aware they have been using a public toilet in Sale and we have encouraged them to behave appropriately and use publicly available facilities. We have had no reports of anti-social behaviour and we are also aware they could be victims of crime. 'Our housing options team will continue to engage with the people as we are firmly of the view that the current situation is not in anyone's best interests, nor is it a suitable place for anyone to stay.' Support for newly recognised refugees in the UK is available through Migrant can help individuals appl;y for universal creedit and find housing options. Since July 2024, the Government returned 6,781 hoping to find asylum in the UK to their home country.
