The Home Office has confirmed it will use the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Manston to process asylum seekers.

It was announced last year the centre would close after a 12-year contract - worth £525 million - was agreed to outsource the MOD's fire and rescue to company Capita Business Services.

Training was transferred to a facility already owned by the firm in Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds.

It was reported yesterday that ministers have been drawing up the plans to deal with the rising number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

The Home Office confirmed today part of the Ministry of Defence site at Manston will be used as a processing site for asylum seekers by January.

Minister for justice and tackling illegal migration, Tom Pursglove, said: "We are overhauling our broken asylum system to ensure people smugglers can’t profit from this vile trade.

"This new site will provide safe and secure accommodation for illegal migrants whilst the government carries out necessary checks.

"We are overhauling our broken asylum system to ensure people smugglers can’t profit from this vile trade..."

"It is only our New Plan for Immigration which will reform the system and build one which is fair on those who play by the rules, and firm on those who do not."

The new site will be able to hold asylum seekers for up to five days as security and identity checks are completed.

But it has also been reported by BBC South East yesterday North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale has been seeking "urgent clarification" from the Home Office and MoD.

It comes after a cross-party group of parliamentarians accused the government of inflicting "profound harm" on people being housed at Napier Barracks.

The former Army accommodation in Folkestone is one of a number of sites being used to house people seeking asylum in Britain who would otherwise be destitute.

A report published last week revealed the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Immigration Detention (APPG) found evidence of "appalling treatment and conditions" at Napier Barracks, Penally Camp in Wales and the Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick Airport.

The barracks are part of the wider Shorncliffe Army Camp and which previously housed service personnel for short stays.

The site has the capacity to hold 523 people - but the Home Office refuses to say how many people are currently housed there.

Although the Home Office insists individuals are not detained there, the APPG says conditions there – including visible security measures, surveillance and lack of privacy – make it akin to 'quasi-detention'.

In August, Folkestone and Hythe District Council revealed the government was extending its use of Napier until September 2025.