Residents upset by Labour’s failure at migrant hotel in Runcorn by-election after Reform party wins

Residents near a luxury hotel being used to house asylum seekers have accused Labour of breaking their promise to shut it down.

According to locals in Runcorn, Cheshire, crime rates have risen since migrants arrived in the area five years ago. They also report that the demand for services like housing, GPs, and dentists has significantly increased.

Residents near the Daresbury Park hotel, a four-star establishment, were informed just before Labour’s defeat in the by-election that there were plans to relocate migrants who had been residing in the hotel for five years.

Despite the announcement, the 425-bed hotel continues to operate as a facility for asylum seekers. This has led to allegations that Labour’s pledge to relocate the migrants was merely a political move to secure votes.

Last Thursday Labour was dealt a devastating defeat when Reform overturned their 14,000 majority to take Runcorn by just six votes.

A serious local issue that has blighted Labour’s chances in the area has been controversy over migrants granted temporary leave to remain at Daresbury Park until their asylum applications have been heard by the Home Office.

In the run-up to their by-election defeat Labour promised to shut it down.

Newly elected Reform UK MP, Sarah Pochin, demanded assurances that the hotel, near Runcorn, will be closed, amid growing anger from residents who have long opposed its use to accommodate migrants.

Ms Pochin said: ‘The people of Runcorn and Helsby have been let down so often by Labour that I will be keeping up the pressure to make sure their promise to shut down the Daresbury Park hotel is not an empty promise or one that has been made lightly.

‘Given Labour’s promise to shut the hotel was made in the middle of the by-election I have my doubts that they will actually follow through with it.

‘My constituents are rightly concerned about illegal immigrants being housed in their community so I will campaign to make sure that anyone moved out of the Daresbury hotel is not fast tracked into housing, pushing residents further down the housing ladder.’

The controversy comes amid growing anger in the working-class town, with disgruntled residents accusing Labour of turning a blind eye while the once-thriving hotel has remained block-booked for migrants for years.

Daresbury Park was once a thriving wedding venue that was a popular conference centre and tourist hub.

In April, government sources had suggested Daresbury Park was among nine asylum hotels earmarked for closure nationwide.

When MailOnline visited the Britannia Hotels-owned site this week, the reality told a different story.

Security guards with body cameras patrolled the entrance, while dozens of bicycles- used by occupants to cycle into nearby communities such as Stockton Heath – were lined up outside.

Sealed mattresses were stacked in a large storage container next to a plastic football goal, hinting at the extent of continued use inside. In Runcorn, locals voiced their exasperation over the lack of action.

Peter Robinson, 65, a retired dockworker, said: ‘It honestly just disgusts me that this hotel is still open and there are people in there in relative luxury while people around here haven’t got two pennies to rub together.

‘You can’t get a doctors appointment, you can’t get a dentist appointment, people can’t get social housing.

‘There are war veterans who are homeless on the streets. They’re the ones who should be in a hotel.

‘I’ve got nothing personally against the asylum seekers but it’s not a fair system.’Why should we be paying through the nose for people to stay in hotels? It needs to stop.’

Mr Robinson claimed he often saw residents of the hotel in the town’s bookmakers putting money into the fruit machines. 

He added: ‘I went to KFC and there was a man at the counter and he had a list of 25 names. He told me he was picking up an order for the people staying at Daresbury Park.

‘So they’ve got enough money to gamble and buy fast-food. A lot of people around here don’t have that.’

Jeana Louise, 51, who turned her back on Labour to vote Reform, told how locals were desperate to see the hotel brought back into its traditional use.

She said: ‘The hotels been used for asylum seekers for years now. I hoped Labour would have done something about it but they haven’t. People have voted Reform because they’re fed-up that nothing gets done.

‘You see Deliveroo and Just Eat turn up, delivering food to the door. I know some of the people there are genuine but it’s hard not to think that there are some really taking the mick.

‘There are people on the streets in Runcorn with nowhere to go and they’re not getting put up in nice hotels. I want to see the hotel open as a hotel – bringing in money to the area and helping tourism.’

Daresbury Park has been housing migrants since 2020, when the Government block-booked 17 of Britannia’s hotels for asylum seekers. 

The site became a flashpoint that year when far-right activists from Britain First stormed the premises, recording confrontations with guests.

They approached an Iranian man and blasted him for staying there for free, with the cameraman saying: ‘I pay my taxes, I’m paying for your stay in this hotel.’

Britannia Hotels, regularly branded as Britain’s worst hotel chain, has seen its profits soar since turning over some hotels to the government.

The chain has racked more than £103 million in pre-tax profits over its last three financial years – including £31.3 million in the year ending March 2024 – in part to lucrative migrant housing contracts.

On Runcorn’s High Street one resident told MailOnline: ‘Nobody has ever asked us if we were happy having hundreds of migrants dumped on our doorstep.

‘We’ve had crime go up, our services stretched and there are working people who cannot get social housing.

‘If Labour’s backtracking as a sort of fingers-up after losing the election, it’s a disgrace. It just smacks of sour grapes.’

Jenny Williams, 55, said: ‘That hotel is the reason Reform won. People want it used as a hotel, as a function for birthdays and weddings. They’re fed up seeing it fall into such disrepair.

‘I’ve nothing against the asylum seekers but it does jar with me that we’re paying millions to hotel chains and yet councils are getting less money and services are stretched.

‘I’ve got a second home and I have to pay 200% council tax on it now. I’m not a millionaire and I can’t afford that. Yet all this taxpayer cash is going to all these hotel owners.’  

Jeff Simister, 73, said he agreed with Reform’s first UK mayor, Andrea Jenkyns, who in her winning speech suggested tents were ‘good enough’ to house migrants, as in France.

He said: ‘If it’s good enough in France, then it should be good enough here.’There are people in Runcorn who can’t get housing for love nor money. I know two people who served this country that are on the streets every night. These are veterans, yet they can’t get a roof over their heads but migrants can? It makes no sense to me.’ 

Others in Runcorn said they had sympathy with the government over hotels being used for asylum seeker accommodation.

Andy Hayes, 55, who voted Labour last week, said: ‘People keep going on about asylum seekers but you can’t blame a lot of them for coming over.

‘It’s not fair to tar them all with the same brush. People are angry about them going into hotels but where else can they be put?’

Chris Bellis, 33, also from Runcorn, added: ‘I’ve got no problem with asylum seekers in the hotel, really. But if people just want to come here and claim benefits, that’s what annoys people.

‘If migrants want to get a job and contribute to society, and the right reasons, then I am okay with that.’People want to see the hotel used as a hotel, bringing in people and money into the area.’

Karen Shore, who failed in her bid to replace shamed Mike Amesbury as Labour’s MP in the constituency, had told newspapers on the campaign trail that she ‘welcomed’ the decision to shut Daresbury Park.

She said: ‘Labour is doing what the Tories failed to do – processing claims, removing those with no right to be here and allowing those with a genuine claim to move on with their lives and contribute to Britain, rather than living indefinitely in eye-wateringly expensive hotels.’

Amesbury resigned as an MP after being caught on camera drunkenly punching a constituent as he lay on the floor. 

The 55-year-old was convicted of assault for battering Paul Fellows, 45, after a 2am argument by a taxi rank in Amesbury’s hometown of Frodsham, Cheshire.

The Home Office was approached for comment.