The Home Office has confirmed that an army barracks near Warminster will not be used to house migrants, despite claims in the national media.
An article by the Mail on Sunday recently claimed that Knook Camp, near Warminster, was included on a list of sites planned to house migrants following the closure of asylum hotels.
This article prompted a letter from local MP Andrew Murrison to the Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey, in which he sought clarification about the allocation of Knook Camp as a potential site to house asylum seekers.
However, the claim has been denied by the Home Office. A spokesperson told the Warminster Journal that there are no current plans to use Knook Camp for asylum accommodation.
Knook Camp, around four miles outside Warminster, is a military camp that also served as a training ground for British soldiers during World War II.
The Home Office has confirmed that only Cameron Barracks in Inverness and the Crowborough site in East Sussex are being discussed as potential sites for asylum accommodation, with around 900 single adult males potentially being housed across both sites.
A Home Office spokesperson said, “The government is furious about the number of illegal migrants in this country and in hotels.
“That is why we will close every single asylum hotel, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds.
“We have already taken action – closing hotels, slashing asylum costs by nearly a billion pounds and exploring the use of military bases and disused properties.”
