IMMIGRANTS detained at a short-term holding centre in Dover are "treated well and with respect by staff", despite inadequate facilities, according to a prisons inspector.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said the Dover Asylum Screening Centre - one of 12 such centres at ports and airports across the UK - was not suitable for overnight stays, with detainees having to sleep on chairs.

Immigrants and their families can be held at the centre while their claims are investigated or before they are deported.

The inspectors found that although immigrants were only supposed to be detained for a few hours, some were held overnight, and occasionally for up to 36 hours.

"None of the facilities was suitable for overnight stays," stressed Ms Owers.

While staff were "good" to the detainees, they had become too used to the inadequate facilities on offer.

She said the people being detained needed proper facilities and proper support and should be able to contact friends and family outside.

Ms Owers said the centre, which is privately run, was not subject to regular visits from healthcare staff, had not instituted a complaints procedure, and did not have adequate child protection arrangements.

But the Home Office said it did not consider children to be at risk of harm.

"We take the welfare of detainees extremely seriously and as such we recognise that there may be a need to put in place a system of independent monitoring of these short-term detention facilities," said Immigration Minister Tony McNulty.

"It is important to emphasise that these facilities are non-residential holding rooms and are intended to hold people very briefly - usually for no more than a few hours."

Since the inspections took place work had been undertaken to improve conditions, he said.

At the time of the visit, the centre was run by GSL UK Limited, who did not want to comment. The centre is now run by Group 4 Securicor.