A hotel chain has fiercely denied any knowledge of plans to house asylum seekers at a branch in Kent.

Council leader John Burden wrote to the Home Office after he was made of an idea to use the Premier Inn, in Gravesend, a move he described as “ill-judged”.

However, a spokesman for Whitbread, the parent company of Premier Inn, has said the Home Office and local authority has not made contact with the chain about such plans.

They added: “We do not accept this type of contract business.

“Our hotels are not suitable for this kind of request for lots of reasons including existing occupancy and the fact our hotels don’t have communal areas or kitchens.”

Cllr Burden claimed the hotel in Wrotham Road had been identified as a potential venue to help with the crisis, with recent figures revealing 100,000 people have made the journey in the past five years.

He said the council had received official confirmation of the plans from the Home Office on August 1 which were also confirmed at a meeting yesterday (August 15).

At the meeting, representatives from the government and Clearsprings, who manage asylum hotel accommodation on behalf of the Home Office, said they had been talking to local management of the Premier Inn about the use of the facility.

But later that same day, Gravesham council received confirmation that the hotel branch will now not be used for asylum purposes.

It has since been contacted by the Head Office of Premier Inn this afternoon who has assured the organisation does not take on contract bookings like this.

Cllr Burden said: "I am aware there is an unprecedented level of immigrants placing a burden onto an already pressured local housing market.

“However, as a local authority, we are already supporting many asylum seekers against a backdrop of that already pressured housing situation.

“Gravesham has been identified as being a Priority One area for Levelling Up purposes, underlining the significant socio-economic challenges that the government knows exist here, and the suggestion of housing more asylum seekers in our borough, whilst other areas of the country have no asylum seeker hotels at all seems very unfair.

"It is reassuring to know that Premier Inn as an organisation will not be pursuing government contracts to house asylum seekers in Gravesham because it would be hugely damaging to our borough and to our community on so many different levels.

“I thank the Head Office of Premier Inn for their intervention in this matter.

"I am very pleased that the minds of those wishing to place asylum seekers in Gravesham have been changed on this occasion, and as an authority, we will oppose any further applications."

Following the initial contact from the Home Office, Cllr Burden sent a letter to Robert Jenrick MP, the Minister of State for Immigration, dated Friday (August 11), and co-signed by Gravesham MP Adam Holloway, where he expressed his “significant concern and disappointment” at the idea.

It said: “I am horrified that the new proposed accommodation of the Premier Inn has been identified and would like to know why Gravesham was specifically identified out of 728 potential Premier Inns across England.

“Your own department has identified Gravesham as being a Priority One area for Levelling Up purposes, underlining the significant socio-economic challenges that the government knows exist here, and yet we are now faced with something which will only compound that situation, whilst other areas of the country have no asylum seeker hotels at all.”

Cllr Burden says the proposed site is within a densely populated area which is already impacted by vulnerable people and “out-of-area placements from external local housing authorities” many of which are London-based.

Due to this, he says there is already significant demand for school places, a lack of GP resources for new patients, and housing pressures, particularly in terms of temporary accommodation.

He added: “Put simply, we do not have the financial resources to support yet more asylum-seeking accommodation within our borough, with the demands from our resident community having to be serviced first and foremost.”

Earlier this year, Cllr Burden also expressed serious concerns over The Granby Hotel, in Northfleet, being used to home asylum seekers but the Home Office continued to place people there.

He says the borough is already supporting around 70 asylum seekers and in 2022 recorded the highest increase in hate crime per population.

His letter concludes: “With many representations made over the course of the past six months, Kent Leaders’ letters and Gravesham’s own letters outlining the pressures we are facing, the Home Office has failed to consider the wider impact on areas and services.

“It seems the Home Office’s priority is to disregard concerns and proceed with its own agenda, which is not acceptable when there are so many areas including the area of Richmondshire District Council, in the constituency represented by the Prime Minister, as of March 2023, which along with your own constituency seemingly has no asylum-seekers in hotel accommodation, and which again has a Premier Inn and numerous other hotels that could be considered.

“Gravesham cannot condone or support the procurement of the Premier Inn site here for the many reasons I have outlined.

“The risks to local services and the asylum seekers themselves are too great. It is unfair to place a disproportionate amount of pressure on an already disadvantaged area.

“Therefore our firm position is that this facility is not suitable for accommodating asylum cohorts. It is ill-judged, damaging to the small tourism industry that we host and adds unnecessary additional pressures in an already challenging socio-demographic climate for this council.

“As a council, we are not supportive of this proposal.”

The Home Office does not comment on specific arrangments for individual sites used for asylum accommodation but a spokesman said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

“We have been clear that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £6 million a day.

“The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer.”