Busy hotel in village near Northampton CLOSES for the foreseeable future

The Holiday Inn, in Flore village, next to junction 16 of the M1, will close as of tomorrow (Saturday, November 16) for an unspecified amount of time.

This newspaper contacted the Holiday Inn directly, which said it was closed as of Saturday for the foreseeable future. They did not give a reason for the closure.

The hotel’s parent company, the IHG Group, told this newspaper to get in touch with the Home Office for inquiries relating to asylum seekers.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed. “We have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing and are delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK. Over the long term this will reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation.

“We remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers and continue to identify a range of accommodation options to minimise their use."

There have been previous instances where the hotel has been used to accommodate refugees as part of government resettlement schemes.

The last time this occurred was during the Afghan resettlement programme and the Ukraine refugee settlement scheme, where hotels in Northampton, including the Holiday Inn, were used to house displaced individuals.

While West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) manages these schemes locally on behalf of the Home Office, the council has declined to comment on the current situation, directing all inquiries to the Home Office.

The sudden unavailability of rooms has raised concerns among some residents, with the use of hotels for refugee accommodation having previously sparked debate in communities.