THIRSK and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake has written to immigration minister Kevin Foster urging him to postpone any decision on an asylum reception centre for up to 1,500 young men at former RAF Linton-on-Ouse until a new Prime Minister and government are in place.

In his letter, dated July 19, Mr Hollinrake stresses that all of the leading candidates to be next PM confirmed to him at recent parliamentary hustings that they had 'concerns about putting such a facility at the centre of a small rural village'.

His letter continued: "Given the ongoing concerns raised by all stakeholders, the overdue response to the pre-action letter from Hambleton District Council, and the imminent change in Prime Minister, I would appreciate confirmation that you will postpone any final decision... until a new government is in place."

Speaking to the Press, Mr Hollinrake said he had not yet had a response from Mr Foster.

But he said he believed there was a good chance that the plan would now be postponed - and hopefully reviewed and reversed.

"I don't think there's much appetite to push ahead with the policy right now," he said.

"A new Prime Minister will have a whole new cabinet. Some existing policies will be continued, others will be reviewed and or reversed. This one I hope will be reversed."

Dr Olga Matthias of the Linton-on-Ouse action group said she was delighted to see Mr Hollinrake keeping up pressure on the government for a rethink on the scheme scheme.

She said Dame Diana Johnson, chair of the home affairs select committee before which Home Secretary Priti Patel had still not appeared to defend the plans, had described the proposal as being neither evidence-based nor cost-effective.

She added that Home Office language had notably weakened on the scheme in recent weeks, from insisting it would go ahead to to talking about 'if' or 'possibly' or 'maybe'.

"Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of this ridiculous policy," she said.

The Home Office today released a statement insisting it was still keen to go ahead with the asylum centre, however.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "As we continue to work on the plan for the asylum reception centre at Linton-on-Ouse, which will be as self-sufficient as possible, we continue to listen to community feedback. 

“We maintain the site is urgently needed to provide essential asylum accommodation and will assist as we end the use of asylum seekers using hotels, which are costing the taxpayer almost £5million a day.

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

Plans for the centre, which the Home Office said would be used to house 1,500 “destitute single adult male asylum seekers” for up to six months while their asylum applications were processed, caused shock and outrage when they were revealed earlier this year.

Locals said that there had been no consultation, and that such a large reception centre would overwhelm the tiny village of Linton-on-Ouse.

Refugee charities, meanwhile, condemned the plan as senseless and inhumane.

Paul Wordsworth of York City of Sanctuary said the Government would be effectively 'criminalising' the asylum seekers - many of whom would be traumatised after fleeing war zones in places like Iraq, Syria and Yemen - by sending them to a 'prison-like' environment.