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Cresta Court asylum seekers "have had background checks and no issues were found", says local MP

He will be holding a residents' meeting later this week.

The asylum seekers now based at the Cresta Court in Altrincham have "had background checks and no issues were found", according to local MP Connor Rand.

Last week the Vine Hotels-owned hotel was abruptly closed and it was subsequently confirmed that it would be housing up to 300 migrants while their claims for asylum were assessed.

Local residents have raised fears about the quantity of new arrivals and the lack of information surrounding their identities, as well as the fact that new arrivals have so far been exclusively male.

A number of residents attended an occasionally heated meeting hosted by Conservative councillors at Altrincham Unitarian Church last evening.

Now Connor Rand, who was elected Altrincham's first non-Conservative MP in a century at the general election in July, has confirmed he will be hosting his own event this Thursday, 4-7pm, at Altrincham Methodist Church.

In advance of the meeting he has sought to answer some questions about the situation, one of which relates to residents' safety.

Rand said he had received assurances from the Home Office that background checks have been carried out on the Cresta Court asylum seekers.

He said: "There is no information to suggest that accommodating asylum seekers will lead to increases in crime or anti-social behaviour.

"Serco (who are managing the migrants' accommodation requirements on behalf of the Home Office) will have staff on duty at the hotel 24/7 and any issues will be raised with hotel staff in the first instance.

"Trafford Council's Community Safety Team will work closely with Greater Manchester Police to monitor the situation and the Council will also work with a range of community partners to provide support.

"The Home Office have assured me that asylum seekers at Cresta Court have had background checks and no issues were found."

Rand confirmed that the decision to base asylum seekers at the Cresta Court was taken by the Home Office and Serco, and that neither he nor Trafford Council have had a say in the process.

"To be clear, I found out about this arrangement just before residents did, and after the agreement had been signed," he added.

He was unable to say how long the Cresta Court will be used as temporary accommodation for the asylum seekers, but would be sharing information about the migrants' nationalities once he had been told by the Home Office.

"I believe the best role I can play as your MP is to actively engage local groups and residents, answer questions where I can and to try and bring people together, working with the police, the hotel, council and other service providers," he said.

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