THE Home Office can expect total rejection of any scheme to create a centre to hold illegal immigrants awaiting deportation in a Kent town.

Controversial proposals to site the holding zone at the landmark Nayland Rock hotel on Margate's seafront will be resisted says the town's MP Roger Gale and Thanet council leader Cllr Sandy Ezekiel.

Mr Gale said: "The minute we got wind of this Home Office initiative we decided to bring it out into the open immediately. This idea would effectively make the hotel an open prison on our lovely seafront which is prime for regeneration.

"The hotel is just yards from the railway station. Some of those awaiting deporation would almost certainly be tempted to hop on a train and 'disappear' - perhaps that is what the Home Office wants?

"The whole problem of holding illegal immigrants belongs to the Home Office - we do not want it dumped on our doorstep.

"Margate has played a large part over the years hosting asylum seekers and enough is enough. Those awaiting deporatation should be held nearer to Heathrow or Gatwick airports as that is they will be flown home from."

Cllr Ezekiel said the proposals would need planning consent and an application would be resisted, even to the point of putting a compulsory purchase order on the hotel if necessary.

He added: "The Nayland Rock is a beautiful hotel on a fabulous stretch of seaside in an area that we are working hard to regenerate and market to businesses and individuals.

"Our plans for the town include a quality hotel and that is why we need the Nayland Rock to remain and not become an open prison that would be almost impossible to keep secure.

"There has been no consultation over this idea at all - the Home Office is trying to bully this venture through but we simply will not budge. We won’t have their ill-conceived proposals foisted on us. We will stand firm and resist."

A Border and Immigration Agency spokesperson said: "The Nayland Rock Hotel has historically been used to provide initial accommodation for newly-arrived asylum seekers.

"As asylum intake continues to fall, the hotel is no longer required for its existing purpose. We have been in discussion with Migrant Helpline about the hotel's future.

"There are currently no plans to change the purpose of the immigration removal centre in Dover. This centre will continue to be used for the sole purpose of detaining foreign nationals, including failed asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, who are awaiting removal or deportation."