The inspector of prisons has criticised conditions at three holding centres - one a shed - during last summer’s migrant crisis.

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said that migrants were hungry and kept in poorly ventilated and smelly conditions.

The checks last September and October focused on Frontier House and the Longport freight shed in Folkestone and Dover Seaport.

Scroll down for audio

Mr Clarke said that there had been an unprecedented swell of "clandestines" getting into Britain, hidden in lorries for Dover and freight trains to the Channel Tunnel terminal in Folkestone.

But it had been predictable and better preparations should have been made, he said.

His report said: "The increases in migration initially overwhelmed the existing facilities and an emergency response was required.

"The inspection took place some months after that was initiated and it was unacceptable that arrangements were still not in place to process detainees quickly, efficiently and decently."

"Detainees gestured to us that they were hungry by pointing to their open mouths" - Peter Clark, Chief Inspector of Prisons

Mr Clarke said that the Longport freight shed was a "wholly unacceptable" environment to hold people. From August 31 to October 3 a total 569 people were detained there, including 90 children - most of them unaccompanied.

Most were held there for less than 12 hours but the longest single detention was for 21 hours and 25 minutes for an unaccompanied child.

Mr Clarke said that conditions there were "wholly unacceptable". Detainees were held overnight and/or for several hours with no clean or dry clothes, no hot food or hot drinks, and nowhere to sleep except a concrete floor.

Some had not eaten for very long periods and many were hungry.

Mr Clarke said: "Detainees gestured to us that they were hungry by pointing to their open mouths."

Detainees had arrived with scabies, headaches and other conditions related to dehydration such as diarrhoea.

The toilet and washing facilities were inadequate and blankets were not washed after each use.

Mr Clarke said there appeared to be a "lack of urgency" to transfer detainees from the facility.

The report said that transfers from the Longport shed to Frontier House took too long, with the moving of 12 detainees in two vans taking three hours.

All detainees were handcuffed between the escort van and the facility without individual risk assessment.

Frontier House had been used on 30 days in the three months to late September, holding 822 detainees, all men.

The accommodation at Dover Seaport, the report said, was "not fit for purpose".

It was crowded, poorly ventilated and smelled badly. There were no sleeping facilities for the large numbers held for long periods. Nearly a quarter had been held there for 24 hours, one for nearly three days.

It also said the detention of children there was "routinely excessive," with one held for more than 58 hours.

James Brokenshire, Immigration Minister, said: “Last summer we saw unprecedented numbers of migrants trying to reach the UK illegally, particularly through Kent.

“For a short time the Longport freight shed was temporarily used to accommodate migrants on their arrival and ease exceptional pressures on our existing screening centres. This was not acceptable and we are clear it will not be used in this way again.

“Since this inspection we have improved the facilities at Dover Seaport and continue to work on plans to open a new centre to deal with clandestine arrivals at Kent ports.”

The Home Office says that it has accepted most of HMCIP's recommendation, many of which have already been implemented.

It says improvements at Dover Seaport include a deep clean and repairs and it is continuing to work with Eurotunnel to provide contingency accommodation in Kent.