Locals were 'kept in the dark' over plans to open viral asylum seeker hotel despite councillors being given three weeks' notice by the Home Office

A Labour council was given almost three weeks’ notice of controversial plans to accommodate almost 300 asylum seekers at a town centre hotel, it has been revealed. Around 300 asylum seekers are being housed at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, near Manchester The presence of the migrants at the Altrincham hotel has left the town divided Migrants were spotted at the hotel earlier this month - understood to be from Syria, Yemen, Iran and Somalia Since then, Mr Ross said the council had been ‘working with the police, the NHS, the home office, Serco and community representatives seeking to ensure the smooth running of the operation and to minimize the impact on the community’. Pictured: Migrants outside the hotel But some residents gathered to show their support for migrants and refugees outside the venue despite the migrants being housed with no notice There was shock at the end of October when local businesses were informed the Cresta Court was shutting its doors Councillors were informed on October 26 via encrypted message that it was being turned into asylum accommodation, with migrants – many of whom had only crossed the Channel on small boats days earlier – bussed in on October 31. Sources said Home Office officials gave Trafford Council a ‘heads up’ about the asylum hotel plan on October 8 ‘to allow them to raise any concerns’.