‘It’s dangerous’ – Inside rural village ‘overrun’ by migrants with locals ‘scared to go out’ – but is it really unsafe?

Jeff claims the introduction of the refugees has “changed the way we live our lives”, adding he won’t let his three teenage daughters leave the house alone.

He said villagers have been given a number to call if they have any concerns, but he can never get through to anyone.

He says: “It’s as if we don’t matter to the authorities – they only care about the migrants.”

His mother, Melody, said: “We have alarms and cameras to try and make us safer.”

We are trapped here and our homes made worthless

Jeff Temperley, 54village resident

The area, set in beautiful countryside, was once considered one of the safest in the country when the Government used it as a base for Ministry of Defence police.

Melody says she has written to PM Sir Keir Starmer but says she’s had no reply.

Wethersfield also has no pubs or shops, with the taxis taking the refugees to nearby towns at taxpayers’ expense – something locals find frustrating when they struggle to get around easily.

Villager Ann Gibson said she has heard of people being turned away and forced to wait for hours for public transport back from Braintree while the migrants are ferried around for free in minibuses.

She said: “My real issue with the camp is the buses. The minibuses for them are going backwards and forwards all day long, but you try getting a bus round here – it’s impossible.”

Referring to feeling intimidated by the migrants, she added: “Sometimes I see large groups of 10 or 12 men walking through the village.”

Len Freshwater, 83, who lives in a restored 16th century farmhouse in sight of the camp, said: “We hear them fighting amongst themselves, and there are often police cars and ambulances tearing about.

“I have been here four years and this is the worst it has been.

“Locals are too frightened even to take their dogs out for a walk near the camp, and youngsters are not encouraged to cycle round the lanes for their own safety.

“It’s a lovely village, but no one wants to come and live here anymore.”

Paul EdwardsThose housed at the site are free to roam the area[/caption]

Paul EdwardsChairman of the parish council Nick Godfrey spoke to The Sun about the nearby centre[/caption]

A Government spokesman told the Sun they had a statutory obligation to provide asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute, with accommodation, but admitted that in recent years, the costs of doing so have reached “unsustainable levels”.

The official added: “We are seeking to reduce the backlog of claims and appeals, end the use of hotels, and cut the cost of other asylum accommodation as soon as possible.”

But the reduction of migrant hotels across the country can’t come soon enough for those living in Wethersfield.

Dave Poulter, 73, has lived in the village all his life and remembers when the base was full of American airmen.

He said: “There was never a pebble out of place then, and they had four clubs there, a bowling alley and a cinema.”

Dave says he rarely sees anybody from the camp other than in one of the minibuses constantly driving past his house.

Paul EdwardsLen Freshwater said locals are living in fear[/caption]

Paul EdwardsThe asylum accommodation site at Wethersfield was identified by the Home Office[/caption]

Paul EdwardsBut locals say they are struggling to find buyers[/caption]

Life inside ‘prison-like’ asylum seeker Wethersfield site

By Ryan Merrifield

The first 50 asylum seekers arrived at the former Wethersfield Airfield air base in July 2023 – and by the end of October 508 men were housed there.

Work had begun to convert the site the previous March.

Arrivals enjoy three meals a day, a multi-faith centre, and free bus rides out to the local area – as well as use of an indoor gym and basketball court.

Every arrival will get a welcome pack with toiletries and details on “what it is to be a good neighbour” – with sessions provided on how to integrate into the community.

Up to 1,700 adult single men were expected to be held at the site, which is manned with CCTV 24/7.

However, the Home Office was accused of using the airfield as an “open-prison camp”, with a report in December 2023 featuring shocking testimonials claiming occupants were “suicidal”.

And subjected to “intense desperation and fear” and refugee charity Care4Calais launched a legal challenge, alleging asylum seekers were being housed at Wethersfield illegally.

The charity said in an appeal for volunteers, the base is “totally unsuitable for people who have fled war, persecution and torture”.

“The location of the base is remote, the buildings are in a state of disrepair, and as a former military base the environment is likely to retraumatise refugees who have been imprisoned in brutal military facilities in their home countries.”

Speaking last year, Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith said the centre was having a “harmful and re-traumatising impact” on those housed there.

“Our volunteers have witnessed the almost daily damage caused to the people accommodated at the site as a result of the Government’s divisive policies of segregation.”

Similarly, The Runnymede Trust shared an account of an engineering student from Sudan who was a resident at the site.

They described it as “like a prison”, while another said: “Nothing about my life in the UK so far is about freedom. We risk our lives over and over again. This is no way to treat a human being. People are suffering.”

One local who did not want to be named said: “There is real concern and worry about having such a large population of mainly young men – with nothing to do – in our midst.”

Chairman of the parish council Nick Godley said refugees are often drinking in the local social club, adding: “There is some ill-feeling in the village.”

He said there are calls for the centre, around a mile-and-a-half down narrow lanes from the village itself, to be “closed completely”.

Councillor Godley explained: “There is nothing for them to do here – this is an isolated community, we are seven miles from the nearest A-road.”

He claims the “detention camp” staff have to be bussed in from elsewhere “because local people don’t want to work there”.

Paul EdwardsThe beautiful village could see migrant numbers double, locals fear[/caption]

Sales manager Clare Tucker, 51, said: “My house has been up for sale for a couple of weeks and I see the prices are coming down.

“I have heard people are concerned about walking their dogs in the fields around the village.”

Dave claims he’s seen house prices plummet in value by up to £100,000.

“The house over the road has been for sale for a while after the woman who lived there died,” he said.

“I’ve only seen one couple looking at it with the estate agent. I can see the house prices just dropping.”

Sheila Powdrill, who lives in nearby Finchingfield, said: “We put our house on the market just before it opened.

“We had to tell people who came to see the house about the camp opening, and I think that put a lot of them off.

“It was the uncertainty of what it was going to be like, not knowing…

“The house is back on the market now, and we’ve not had much interest.”

COMMENT: It’s a great time to be alive in Britain… if you’re an asylum seeker

By Rod Liddle

IT’S a great time to be alive – if you’re an asylum seeker or foreign criminal.

Never have the chances of you being booted out of the country been lower.

Never have the chances of getting your hands on our benefits been higher.

This isn’t entirely Labour’s fault. Although they don’t seem to consider that the millions of illegal immigrants here are remotely shocking.

Nigel Farage has said that there are more than half a million illegal migrants in London alone. But the Government is oblivious.

And it is not just the politicians.

Consider the following stories, all of which happened here, in the UK, in one week.

Bear in mind that these are the ones we KNOW about.

They include examples of why migrants who have been convicted of crimes have been allowed to stay in this country.

I wish I could tell you I’ve made them all up. But I haven’t. Surreal as they undoubtedly are, they are also absolutely true.

First up, there’s the Pakistani bloke convicted of sexual assault on barely pubescent girls. He got 18 months in prison and then we decided to deport him.

But a tribunal ruled that we couldn’t, because his Pakistani relatives might “take a dim view” of his misdemeanours and be nasty to him. Nope, not kidding.

Then there’s the Albanian criminal who has been given leave to remain in the UK, in part because his son, who has sensory issues and emotional difficulties, likes the chicken nuggets they do here.

His lad is a bit temperamental. He knows what he likes.

Have you ever tried an Albanian chicken nugget? Well, there you are, then.

Then there’s Lynthia Calliste, a woman from Grenada who arrived on a six-month visa. That was in 2018. We’ve at last got around to chucking her out.

But she is challenging her deportation under Article Eight of the European Convention of Human Rights.

She has married a Latvian bloke. And she says that he wouldn’t enjoy the cuisine in the Caribbean. And also that the weather there would be too hot for him.

And here’s the thing. I bet she wins the appeal.

Now, each of those cases seem ludicrous.

In each case, the sensitivities of the criminal are afforded more weight than the rights of British people not to have to suffer yet more criminals in our country.

Some people blame the aforementioned European Convention on Human Rights. And sure, it is outdated and needs to be rewritten from start to finish. Or we should pull out of it.

Some blame the European Court of Human Rights and, sure, we should get free from that too.

But I do not believe that either intended for the law to be interpreted the way it has been in those cases I’ve mentioned.

So while this international legislation isn’t especially helpful, it is not the chief cause of the problem.

The main cause is the individual judges who preside over these cases.

Often anonymous, they seem to make it a point of pride to refuse the deportation of almost everybody who comes before them.

The weaselly lawyers make their cases and the judges smile and agree.

The only way to stop this is to weed out the badduns.

Sack them. Bin them.

If they are seen to have interpreted the law in a particularly absurd manner, kick them out of their jobs.

And perhaps, when training these overpaid drongos, make it clear that in each case a balance is to be struck between the rights of the individual and the rights of the rest of us.

And if the migrant is guilty of a serious crime, they will forfeit their rights immediately.

Paul EdwardsUp to 1,000 migrants could soon be housed at the old base[/caption]

Paul EdwardsJeff Temperley lives just yards from the camp fence[/caption]

Paul EdwardsResidents say they feel uneasy leaving their homes[/caption]

PAA group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent[/caption]

Immigration: the stats

DAMNING stats show just three per cent of small boat arrivals have been deported since 2018.

Seven new asylum hotels have opened since Labour came to power, including the four-star Delta Marriott on the outskirts of Warwick, where the manager was forced to apologise to guests on TripAdvisor.

Figures also reveal more than 8,000 extra illegal immigrants are in hotels since the election in the summer.

Ministers were this month urged to find a deterrent to stop the “waves of illegals crossing the Channel” stinging taxpayers for billions.

By last December 112,187 asylum seekers were taking some form of government accommodation and subsistence.

Despite Labour pledging to end hotel use, the number of rooms rose from 29,585 at the end of June to 38,079 at the end of 2024 – costing around £4.5million a day.

Meanwhile asylum claims were up 18 per cent last year at 108,000, surpassing the previous 2002 record of 103,000.

But the proportion being granted fell from 67 per cent in 2023 to 47 per cent last year, in a sign processors are getting tougher.

Some 162,000 migrants were also granted settled status in Britain last year, which was a third more than 2023 and the highest for 13 years.

Border Minister Dame Angela Eagle hit back: “Over the last six years, legal migration soared, a criminal smuggler industry was allowed to establish itself in the Channel, and the asylum system was broken.

“Through our Plan for Change, we’re restoring order to the system and substantially increasing enforcement.

“Since July, returns are up to their highest level in half a decade, with 19,000 people with no right to be here removed.

“Enforced returns up 24 per cent and illegal working arrests and visits increased by 38 per cent.”

The asylum accommodation site at Wethersfield was identified by the Home Office under the former government as a surplus military site that was suitable to accommodate asylum seekers.

And while Wethersfield provides safe accommodation for asylum seekers and is designed to be as self-sufficient as possible – claims from both sides suggest the contrary.

The camp is run by Clearsprings Ready Homes, an experienced specialist asylum accommodation provider which runs the site on behalf of the Home Office – and is responsible for managing asylum seeker accommodation “in a safe and secure manner”.

On arrival, migrants receive a briefing and orientation about the site and the local community, including sessions on anti-social behaviour and road safety.

The authorities claim the maximum length of stay for individual asylum seekers accommodated on site is usually nine months.

The site itself is self-contained and essential services are provided directly to the facility to reduce the impact on local services.

And while officials say the safety and security of the local communities, the staff and those accommodated on the sites are of “the utmost importance” with security services permanently on site, those living in the village believe they’ve been taken for fools.

‘Difficult choices’

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This Government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain.

“We are working hard to restore order to that system by tackling the asylum backlog, and reducing the use of taxpayers’ money on expensive asylum hotels.

“That has inevitably meant difficult choices elsewhere in the short term, including increasing capacity at Wethersfield, but we are determined to reduce pressure throughout the system over time.

“We are also continuing to ramp up our removals of people with no right to be in the UK, with more than 24,000 failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other immigration offenders now returned since this Government came to power, the highest number of returns in a nine-month period since 2017.”

Braintree Council said it did not wish to comment when approached by The Sun.

Paul EdwardsThe nearby village of Finchingfield has also been impacted, locals say[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]