Home Office HALTS plans to house more asylum seekers on Shropshire 'migrant street'

A controversial move to house asylum seekers into a Shropshire village has been put on hold. The plans to relocate migrants to the new build estate in Stoke Heath, first raised by local Conservative MP Mark Pritchard in the House of Commons in June, have been met with strong opposition from residents who say the houses should be for locals.Now, GB News understands arrangements to move further migrants into the estate over next few days have been put on hold.Mr Pritchard, the MP for The Wrekin, told The People's Channel the decision to house asylum seekers in the village will be reviewed by ministers. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say GB News understands the Shropshire development pre-dates a new processes introduced by the Home Secretary which guides against housing asylum seekers in new build properties that could increase social tensions.As first reported by The Sun, residents have learned that 21 homes in the development have been acquired by outsourcing company Serco for asylum seekers.Labour has pledged to stop using asylum hotels by the next election, moving towards housing asylum seekers in the community as well as in former military barracks.Earlier this week, the Home Office announced that asylum seekers will be made to pay up to £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and support once they start earning.Speaking to GB News, Mr Pritchard said: As a result of my pressure and the pressure of the local parish council and credit to them and local residents, is that the current arrangements that will allow more asylum seekers over the next few days has been put on hold. The asylum seekers that were already in place have now been relocated, so currently there are no asylum seekers in Stoke Heath and the Government have told me tonight if they are to be believed. A senior Home Office official and there's no reason why I should not believe them, is that this scheme is being reviewed by Home Office ministers.LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM STOKE HEATHShropshire residents fear for their safety as almost 100 asylum seekers are earmarked for new-build homes: 'We are vulnerable!'Migrant crisis: Shabana Mahmood bans asylum seekers from being housed near schools and nurseriesShropshire MP outraged at Labour 'secrecy' as asylum seekers set to move onto new-build estate: 'Completely wrong!'It comes as figures show the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel in the first half of the year fell sharply compared to the same time last year.Some 11,884 migrants made the journey in the six months to the end of June, according to the latest Home Office data.This is 41 per cent lower than the 19,982 recorded for January to June last year.It is also down 12 per cent on the 13,489 who arrived in the first six months of 2024. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter