No asylum seekers are being housed in hotels in Watford according to the latest figures, while a handful receive government support.

Home Office figures show the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has dropped 41 per cent across the UK, from 50,500 in June 2023 to 29,600 at the same point this year.

In total, four asylum seekers were receiving a form of government support in Watford as of June, down from 15 in June 2023, but none of them were in hotels.

A refugee charity has said hotels should never be used to house asylum seekers, warning it leaves vulnerable people isolated and at risk of being targeted by the far-right.

Imran Hussain, executive director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: "Despite some progress on reducing the use of hotels, there were still nearly 30,000 people seeking asylum living in hotels at the end of June.

"Hotels should never be used as accommodation, as people in asylum hotels are isolated, struggle with their mental health, and may be targeted by far-right attacks, as we saw a few weeks ago."

In total, 118,900 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June.

This was down by 32 per cent from 175,500 at the end of June last year, but up slightly from the 118,300 waiting to be dealt with at the end of March.

A Home Office spokesperson said the Government is taking steps to strengthen border security and stop channel crossings.

They said: "The Home Secretary has taken immediate action to clear the asylum backlog and enhance the Government’s immigration enforcement and returns capability, redeploying hundreds of staff to increase the removal of those with no right to be here.

"As announced this week, we have also recruited up to 100 new specialist officers at the National Crime Agency who will work alongside our new Border Security Command to target, disrupt and dismantle criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit."