Asylum seekers could be accommodated in Pontins while they wait for their application documents to be processed.

Thousands of people who have made the Channel crossing could be housed in motel rooms at the Camber Sands holiday park under plans being considered by the government.

If all 820 chalets – each complete with bunk-beds, a kitchenette, bathroom and dining area – have been earmarked. The 32-acre site could lodge up to 1,600 people, according to reporting by MailOnline.

Facilities at the holiday centre include a pub and a restaurant but these are not likely to be open if the Home Office goes forward with plans to hire the East Sussex site.

Pontins, built in 1968 and bought out of administration by Britannia Hotels in 2011, offers budget holidays.

Other options being discussed to accommodate asylum seekers reportedly include Ministry of Defence properties and disused student flats.

This news comes as a further 555 people reached Britain over the weekend even as temperatures dropped below zero.

Almost 45,000 people have made the dangerous cross-Channel journey in small boats so far this year, compared to just over half that number in all of 2021.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman says drastic steps must be taken to address this situation.

"The way I see it is we need radical action" said the minister last week.

"And, as the Prime Minister has said repeatedly, we’ll do whatever it takes."

Ms Braverman said progress had been made after meeting with EU politicians last week and agreeing to work more closely with the bloc's border agency, Frontex.

Currently it costs the county more than £6 million pounds per day to house over 40,000 asylum seekers in hotels across various English cities.

Additionally, almost 10,000 Afghans, who the UK took in after the county fell to the Taliban last year, are also being accommodated in hotels at a daily cost of £1.2 million to the British taxpayer.

KentOnline previously reported on the dreadful conditions at the Manston immigration camp in Ramsgate.

The centre was designed to hold up to 1,600 people, but the population in November reached 4,000 and there were reports of drugs, disease and sexual assaults.

Two weeks ago it was reported that a man who had contracted diphtheria while being held at the Thanet site may have died from the disease.