A controversial scheme housing asylum seekers in a former military barracks will be scrapped this year, it’s been confirmed.

The decision comes months after KentOnline exclusively revealed that the Labour government was considering extending the use of Napier Barracks in Folkestone as a mass accommodation site.

But now, it’s been revealed the site - which has been plagued by inadequate facilities, poor conditions and far-right protests - is to be closed in six months.

In papers uploaded to parliament’s cross-party home affairs committee on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the provision of asylum accommodation, government bosses said: “The Home Office intend to occupy and deliver services at Napier until September 2025, at which point the site will be handed back to the Ministry of Defence.”

Napier Barracks was first used to house asylum seekers in 2020 by the previous Conservative government amid the mounting cost of hotel accommodation, which has risen to £8.3 million a day.

But it sparked fierce opposition - including from various Labour MPs and members - with many believing the barracks should be shut down.

The site has up to a dozen men sleeping in each dormitory, with beds separated by wooden partition walls and curtains. Toilets and washing facilities are provided on a communal basis, sometimes in a different building.

It has been used for the past five years as contingency or temporary accommodation for up to 350 asylum seekers. In September 2021 an order was laid before Parliament extending the use for another five years.

Ever since the accommodation was set up there have been calls for it to close, including from MPs, charities, church leaders and nearby residents.

Folkestone and Hythe Labour councillors joined the calls when, in 2022, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on immigration detention said the Home Office "failed to address the fundamental problems at the site".

The same year, a High Court judgement declared facilities inadequate and the Home Office guilty of employing unlawful practices.

Back then, six asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be considered won a legal challenge against the government after a judge ruled their accommodation fell significantly below the minimum standard.

The court found Napier Barracks provided inadequate accommodation and then-Home Secretary Priti Patel’s process for selecting people to stay there was flawed and unlawful.

It also found residents were unlawfully detained under purported Covid rules.

The camp has faced a number of issues, including demonstrations, arrests, a fire, Covid outbreaks, hunger strikes and reports of far-right groups targeting those staying there.

A limit on stays at the site proved attractive to asylum seekers, according to a report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration published in October last year.

At the time of the inspectors’ visit last July, there were 276 men at Napier Barracks, with a further 40 due to arrive imminently.

But each arrival could only stay for a maximum of 90 days, following a High Court ruling in 2021.

The report said: “The knowledge that there was a maximum length of stay had a positive impact on service users.

“They told inspectors they had asked for their friends to be moved from hotels to Napier because of the maximum length of stay policy and the degree of certainty that it provided.”

It also reveals the site has a five-star hygiene rating, adding: “Service users at Napier Barracks told inspectors that they preferred the food there compared to hotels where they had previously been accommodated.”

Meanwhile, staff told inspectors how they organised meals for cultural events like Christmas and Eid to “foster a positive and relaxed atmosphere in the dining area where service users and staff could mingle and dine together”.

Inspectors say charity volunteers at the barracks promote a “give back to the community” programme through which asylum seekers offer free haircuts to homeless people and donate food grown on-site to local shelters.

Home Office has been contacted for comment.