‘It became a DUMPING GROUND’ Historic Birmingham hotel to stop housing asylum seekers

ALAMY

The Paragon Hotel in Birmingham

More than 200 asylum seekers were housed at the Paragon Hotel in 2015, and their arrival was met with a wave of complaints from guests and local residents.

Cllr Tahir Ali said: "It became a dumping ground for asylum seekers, almost the Midlands entire allocation in one place.

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"Residents were not against having a fair share. But we need to prevent that from happening again."

He added plans to redevelop the hotel will hopefully result in more jobs for local people.

The hotel has received an average score of just 1.5 out of 5 stars as well as more than 720 ‘Terrible’ ratings.

GETTY FILE IMAGE

More than 200 asylum seekers lived in the hotel in 2015

In the complaints, the hotel has been described as “shabby”, “cold”, “really dirty” and “the pits”.

Although the asylum seekers have now left, Birmingham City Council claim planning permission is required to accommodate any more.

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Chief planning officer Richard Goulborn said the council had worked with the immigration service and the Home Office to address the use of the hotel as an asylum seeker’s hostel.

He said: “The new owners are moving to a redevelopment of what is a beautiful building.”

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The Paragon Hotel is now set for a major refurbishment

The landmark would need extra planning permission from the council if it wanted to host asylum seekers again.

“We would be able to act more quickly if ever there was a repeat.”

The news comes amid plans to redevelop the site, with the Paragon’s Iraqi owners hoping to relaunch the business as a luxury hotel, complete with a four-storey extension which will provide an additional 99 rooms.

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