Plans are being drawn up to end use of Peterborough's Great Northern Hotel as refuge for asylum seekers

Plans are being drawn up to end the use of Peterborough’s Great Northern Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers, according to the city’s MP.

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow says a course of action is being put together that will enable the 171-year-old hotel in Station Approach, to resume its original function.

He said details of the proposals would be announced in the near future.

His comments come nearly a year since the 41-bedroom hotel was first seconded by the Home Office as emergency accommodation for about 80 male asylum seekers.

The group of mostly young men were brought to the hotel in two coaches on the night of November 11 last year.

In a Facebook posting, Mr Bristow said: “It was November last year that the Great Northern Hotel was stood up to accommodate migrants who had crossed the Channel in small boats

“That is a year too long for Peterborough, is certainly not good for our regeneration plans and it is certainly not good for the young men themselves.

"I’m afraid inertia will set in unless we have a plan.

"That plan means stopping the boats. The Supreme Court will soon rule on the Government’s Rwanda policy, and we’ve got to make sure that locally we’re doing everything we can to get this hotel back into use.

"So I’m going to challenge the Government again to put this hotel at the top of its list when it starts standing down hotels.

"And, of course, there are things the council can do. The city council and I are as one on this.

“We have a plan as well and we’ll be announcing details of that plan to come and we are working night and day to get this problem resolved.”

A spokesperson for the city council said: “We remain in ongoing discussions regarding the future of the Great Northern Hotel and as such it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.”

Over the past year, the council has considered taking legal action against what it says is an unauthorised change of use of the hotel.

It dropped the plan after similar legal actions by other councils were rejected judges.