Hundreds of illegal immigrants or asylum seekers could be about to be moved into Crowborough Army Camp, Crowborough News has learnt.
It is claimed the camp, on the edge of the Ashdown Forest just south of Crowborough, is set to house at least 600 migrants moved from hotels by the Government.
Tonight the Home Office told Crowborough News it was looking at sites as alternative to hotels but stressed nothing had been agreed.
It would not comment on the local claims or confirm the Crowborough camp was one of those under consideration. However, it also said it was not its policy to comment on potential sites when we asked the spokesperson to deny Crowborough Army Camp was one of them.
The tip off came from a reliable source whom Crowborough News has agreed not to name. The source believes the Home Office was hoping to get the illegal immigrants into the camp before it was publicly announced. Crowborough News understands business users of the Pippingford Park site have been told to move out.
It is not clear whether the potential migrants would be those who have failed in their asylum applications and are awaiting deportation, or asylum seekers yet to be assessed. However, as the Crowborough Army Camp is not secure, it seems likely they would be free to come and go as they please.
In a statement to Crowborough News, the Home Office spokesperson said: “We have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of cheaper, more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.
“We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery and more detail will be set out in due course.”
The camp, in Pippingford Park and on land owned by the Ministry of Defence, is used mainly as a temporary training camp, especially by cadet forces from various parts of the country. It contains barrack accommodation for up to 1,200 people and also includes various firing ranges, and training facilities.
Crowborough camp can trace is origins back to the early part of the 20th century when the area surrounding Crowborough Town and the Ashdown Forest were taken over by the War Office during the 1st World War. Crowborough camp was established and used extensively during the war, originally as a tented camp.
During World War 1 the Canadian Army moved in and established itself in and around Crowborough establishing the Machine Gun School here. The areas around Crowborough Camp were used extensively to accommodate and training prior to the D Day invasion in 1944, by a number of military units.