Residents living near the Highfield House asylum hotel in Southampton say they were woken by loud cheering and shouting at around 3am this morning. One local, who did not wish to be named, described looking out his window to see a coach pull into the hotel, with an estimated 50 to 60 migrant men being escorted inside.
Its understood the perimeter of the hotel had been sealed off in a security operation prior to the new hotel guests arrival. “The men were cheering and shouting ‘yes’ as they got off the coach, clearly celebrating,” the resident said. He added that the hotel’s perimeter had been fully fenced off and police cars were stationed in and outside the property throughout the night.
The new arrivals in Southampton come as the UK’s newly appointed Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, faces a stark introduction to the ongoing small boats crisis. On her first full day in office, more than 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel illegally. By late Saturday evening, GB News reported that 1,096 migrants had been brought to the Border Force processing centre at Dover harbour. This brings the total number of illegal Channel arrivals so far this year to over 30,000.
The record was reached just after 6pm on Saturday when the Border Force catamaran Hurricane arrived in Dover carrying 205 migrants.
The perimeter fencing could be seen to have been removed later on Sunday afternoon.
