Rumours a popular hotel and wedding venue is being used to house asylum seekers have been rubbished by the Home Office.

Residents living near Larkfield Priory Hotel near Aylesford have reported seeing groups of young men coming and going from the building in London Road since it closed its doors last year.

It hit the headline last April when couples had their weddings cancelled, after plans were floated to commission the venue for use by the Home Office.

But after Tory MP Tracey Crouch sought clarification from the government, having hit out at the lack of consultation, the scheme was dropped.

Speculation has now returned, however.

One neighbour, who did not want to be identified, said: "All of a sudden you're seeing groups of young people that can't speak a word of English.

"When you see a large amount of people you can't help but notice.

"A couple of neighbours saw them go into the Larkfield hotel and then I saw it with my own eyes over Christmas. There could be a good explanation, but I doubt it. If there was it would be nice to tell the community about it.

"There's something wrong, and there's something going on. When one or two people start seeing the same thing you have to take note."

They said residents had begun to see people at the site in November, and had linked it to the closure of the asylum centre at Manston in the same month.

It came after it was hit with a series of issues surrounding overcrowding, "inhumane" conditions and disease.

"It coincided with that," the neighbour added. "It's starting to make people angry and nervous.

"I've seen a dozen in one group, all the same age – early 20s and male."

But this week the Home Office confirmed the location was not being used to house asylum seekers, and a source said the hotel was due to reopen later this year.

"We are under refurbishment," said the source, who did not wish to named.

"There's nobody staying there, just the maintenance team, and myself and my family.

"The hotel will be opened soon and we're taking bookings. We plan to open in April."

'There's nobody staying there, just the maintenance team, and myself and my family'

It is not the first time a hotel has had to rubbish rumours about housing asylum seekers.

In November a video appeared on social media which appeared to show a group of asylum seekers checking into a hotel in Folkestone, unloading luggage from a vehicle as they did so.

It was retweeted and 'liked' more than 125,000 times - an example, claimed those posting it, of people arriving in a dinghy at Dover with no possessions before making hay with taxpayers' money.

It was in fact an overseas film crew, and the manager of the hotel, the Best Western Clifton, hit back at the "negative, racist and aggressive comments" he saw.

However, a number of Kent hotels have been commissioned by the government, which is spending £5.6m a day nationwide to house 37,000 asylum seekers.

On that topic, a Home Office 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.

“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6m a day. The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.”