A budget hotel chain has rubbished reports that two of its Kent premises are being used to house asylum seekers.

Premier Inn responded after locations in Herne Bay and Whitstable were included by prominent far-right figure Active Patriot on a map of venues accommodating migrants.

Since about 2020, there has been a significant increase in the use of hotels by the government to house asylum seekers who enter the UK illegally.

But a spokesman for Premier Inn says there is no truth to the suggestion that any of its sites are being used for this purpose

In March 2024, under the previous Conservative government, it was revealed the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels was £8 million per day.

Active Patriot – real name Alan Leggett – styles himself as an “independent citizen journalist” and on his website publishes a map purporting to detail sites being used to accommodate migrants.

Among those he claims are being used fo this purpose are the Premier Inns in Margate Road, Herne Bay, and Thanet Way, Whitstable.

However, a spokesperson for Premier Inn said there is “no truth to this one whatsoever”, adding: “Premier Inn does not accept this type of contract business.

“Our hotels are entirely unsuitable for these types of contracts for lots of different reasons, including lack of communal areas or cooking facilities.”

The Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, says the government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house migrants.

“This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed,” she said,

“We are absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels, and since coming into government took immediate action to restart asylum processing to begin closing hotels, have surged the number of returns, removing more than 19,000 people with no right to be in the UK, and established the Border Security Command to dismantle the gangs driving this trade.

“We continue to work closely with local authorities as we look to drive down the use of hotels further, with nine set to close by the end of March.”

Mr Leggett has convictions for anti-migrant offences, including a 2020 incident in Dover in which he filmed himself hurling abuse at a Jewish woman.

At Canterbury Crown Court in November 2023, that incident earned him a 10-month jail term suspended for two years, with a six-month tagged curfew between 8pm and 3am, 150 hours of unpaid work, and 15 rehabilitation activity requirements.

Marcus North, researcher at anti-right wing organisation Hope Not Hate, said: “Hope Not Hate has been tracking the activity of so-called ‘migrant hunters’ like Alan Leggett for years.

“Their modus operandi is to film and harass both residents and staff at temporary asylum accommodation sites around the country for social media engagement.

“We have repeatedly raised concerns that this kind of activism can increase the likelihood of serious anti-migrant incidents in the future.

“The attempted petrol bombing of a migrant processing centre in Dover in 2022, the arson attempts of asylum hotels during the racist rioting last summer and the recent jailing of a white supremacist for stabbing an asylum seeker at a hotel, are further evidence that concern needs to be taken seriously.

“If the public are told regularly by far-right influencers that they and their towns are ‘under threat’ from those in asylum accommodation, then it is inevitable that some will take matters into their own hands.”

In July, the Beefeater and Table Table restaurants attached to the Whitstable and Herne Bay Premier Inn hotels, respectively, closed down.

Whitbread, the parent company of the brands and Premier Inn, said they would only be available for hotel guests as part of a move to “optimise” its food and drink offering, add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate and increase “operational efficiencies”.

Active Patriot has not responded to KentOnline’s request for comment.