The Best Western Premier Yew Lodge Hotel in Kegworth, a luxury spa hotel in a rural Leicestershire village, has closed its doors to guests and cancelled existing bookings so it can provide

accommodation for 250 asylum seekers. The hotel, which includes a Marco Pierre White New York Italian restaurant, stopped taking reservations two weeks ago after bosses signed an 'exclusive use contract' with the Home Office to house refugees. Locals have protested over the plans, claiming they were only told about the venue closing days before the asylum seekers moved in. Several staff members have been made redundant as a result of the hotel shutting to members of the public.

The retired administrator and grandmother-of-four, Rita Pearson, has lived in the village for 42 years and took part in protests outside the hotel last week with her husband Tony. She stated, 'I feel we are too small of a village to house 250 asylum seekers. We know a lot of people that used to work at the Yew Lodge that have been made redundant. We were given hardly any notice about their arrival and so couldn't really do a lot about it before they came. That is why we are complaining now. We haven't got an MP or anyone living here to help us like they did so we feel aggrieved in Kegworth about the situation.'

Local Kegworth resident Tony Pearson, 73, said, 'There is nothing for them to do here, they have no money and can't work so I don't know what they are going to do all day.' The first asylum seekers arrived at the hotel at the beginning of the week, and it is expected to be full by the weekend.

Mother-of-two Elisabeth Shepherd, 53, said locals were given 'no notice' about their arrival and that people were 'frightened, including myself'. She said, 'A lot of the villagers use the resources at the hotel such as the gym, pool and restaurant, and now we haven't got anything here to use and will have to turn elsewhere for these facilities. People found out about the asylum seekers moving into the hotel because their gym memberships were instantly cancelled.'

Father-of-four Dave Smith, 54, said, 'Over the last week we have seen quite a few wandering around and personally I just want more information about who they are and what is happening.' Jane Sutton, 60, said, 'The ratio [of asylum seekers] is supposed to be one inhabitant to 170, and in Kegworth, we've got one inhabitant.'

The hotel's temporary closure has led to several locally-employed staff members being made redundant. A statement on Marco Pierre White's website stated, 'Please be advised that the Yew Lodge Hotel in Kegworth, which includes Marco's New York Italian restaurant, has been temporarily closed due to an exclusive use contract by the Home Office.' The situation in Kegworth is similar to what happened in the village of Quorn in Leicestershire a few months ago when one of their hotels was taken over to house asylum seekers, but because they had Jane Hunt the MP living in the village, the decision was overturned. Photo by bestwestern.it.