RESIDENTS of a village near York have written 150 letters calling on the Government not to place 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in the area.

Children and adults who live in Linton-on-Ouse have posted 150 letters to the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister this week, asking them to abandon their plans to accommodate 1,500 asylum-seekers on a disused RAF station in Linton-on-Ouse.

This letter-writing is part of a campaign against Home Office plans which were announced on April 14.

A spokesperson for the Linton-on-Ouse Action Group said: “There was no consultation with the village about this, we had no idea it was coming.

“As a community of around 700 people, placing 1,500 additional people here will totally overwhelm our village – anyone can see that. This doesn’t make us NIMBYs, it’s just unworkable. The village is tiny and the nearest town is over 10 miles away.

"We have regular floods and power cuts and the sewage system already struggles to cope. Roads into the village are narrow and there’s a rickety toll bridge on the way in.

"Asylum-seekers have done nothing wrong, all they’ve done is flee war, conflict or persecution – just as Ukrainian refugees have done. Now they have to live in what amounts to an open prison, in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do and with a very uncertain future. It’s not a humane way to treat anyone.”

The proposal for Linton-on-Ouse is part of the Government's new migration policy, which also includes sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The men, aged between 18 and 40, will be housed at the base while their applications to stay in the UK are processed.

Speaking on the plans, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The asylum reception centre at Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, will help end our reliance on expensive hotels which are costing the taxpayer £4.7million a day.

“We are consulting with local stakeholders about the use of the site.

“The New Plan for Immigration will fix this broken asylum system, allowing us to support those in genuine need while preventing abuse of the system and deterring illegal entry to the UK.”