Blackpool Council is hoping to work with the Home Office to resolve concerns around the use of the Metropole Hotel on the Promenade to house asylum seekers.
The property, which is owned by Britannia Hotels, has been used to provide accommodation for people fleeing persecution since September 2021.
Blackpool South MP Chris Webb is among those calling for the Metropole to be returned to its former use as holiday accommodation, saying the building is unsuitable to house asylum seekers.
Blackpool Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said: “Since the start of the use of the hotel for this purpose, we have been clear about our view that this is not a suitable location for the much needed support of vulnerable people fleeing abuse and persecution. We look forward to working with the Home Office to bring this use to an end.”
The council has been opposed to the use since the first asylum seekers moved into the building which is operated on behalf of the Home Office by private public services firm Serco.
It does provide support services for residents including in relation to public health and education for children.
In October 2023 the Conservative government announced it would be moving asylum seekers from 50 hotels around the country where they were being housed, but the Metropole was not among them.
Mr Webb first raised his concerns about the suitability of the Metropole to house asylum seekers last September, and has recently stepped up his calls for it to be restored to the tourism industry.
Speaking last week (January 31), he said he had heard “directly from asylum seekers in the hotel about the alleged mistreatment they are suffering including a lack of access to food”.
But Serco refuted the claims and said the safety and wellbeing of the Metropole’s residents “is our top priority”.
A Serco spokesperson said: “Our staff treat all the people in our accommodation with respect and dignity and their safety and wellbeing is our top priority, including providing regular balanced meals.”
Council chiefs and Serco have also recently dismissed social media speculation that the Norbreck Castle Hotel in North Shore, or the former civil service offices at Norbreck House could be used to house asylum seekers.
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