Whistleblower reveals horrifying reality of Blackpool asylum hotel – from collapsing ceilings to raw sewage
Plus: Remembering Alice, Bebe and Elsie one year on.
Asylum seekers in Blackpool are living in appalling, squalid conditions in the neglected Metropole Hotel, according to explosive revelations from a whistleblower.
Samantha Arden, who worked in the hotel as a housing officer for Serco until June, has outlined the scale of the problem to The Blackpool Lead, revealing that families are “trapped”, sometimes for years, in a building that is mouldy and rotten.
“I quit because of the state of the building,” Arden tells The Blackpool Lead. “There’s one room on the third floor where the roof collapsed while it was occupied.
“The residents are families, elderly people, disabled individuals. Babies being raised in one overcrowded room. Some have been trapped in that hotel for over three years, waiting endlessly for a decision on their asylum claim. Their lives are on hold, and it is destroying them.”
The Metropole, an historic Blackpool institution owned by Britannia Hotels, was already severely neglected even before it was used for asylum seekers.
Arden says that as well as ceilings falling in, black mould is common and in winter residents need to be moved because of what she believes to be raw sewage entering the building through the basement.
Photos from her time at the hotel, taken mostly in the last six months, support Arden’s claim that the hotel is in a severe state of disrepair. Politicians and locals have spoken of the need to return the hotel to its previous use and support the tourism industry – but it is a long time since it was a credit to Blackpool.
Arden adds: “It has been a terrible hotel of late. All of the pictures they put on the internet make it look amazing – and I’m sure it was back in 1982. I can say that with absolute confidence because my great-grandmother used to take me in for afternoon tea. I used to love visiting when I was a kid.
“We used to go in with my grandad on his lunchtimes. It was a beautiful building then but that was a long time ago.”
Serco said there was no evidence to substantiate claims about the hotel’s condition despite The Blackpool Lead offering to share images that indicate otherwise. They denied there were mushrooms growing on the wall despite that not being included in our questions.
The Metropole has made headlines consistently over the last few years from a national media that fetishises the idea of a run-down Blackpool. Combine that topic with asylum seekers and it’s ticking enough boxes in terms of what many titles look for in a story.
Most notable was the recent article in The Sun which described a couple as making money filming for OnlyFans in their room. Arden confirmed that incident as accurate.
She said: “They’re not allowed to work in a regular job and people will find a way to make money.
“The Home Office gets told about these things. There’s a computer system where everything is reported. But they’re not interested.”
More like a prison than a holiday
The idea that people in the hotel are living in luxury is not accurate, she says.
One example given is that of a family-of-four who might receive approximately £40 per week to live on while their claim is processed.
“People say they all have new iPhones – no they bloody don’t,” says Arden. “I’ve seen more than a few 3410s with Snake on them.”
Asylum claims can take a long time to process. Some people only spend a few weeks at the hotel whereas others are there for several years.
If a claim is denied by the Home Office, there is an appeal process which can drag the process out further. If it is accepted, residents have 28 days to leave the hotel and start their new lives.
The number of asylum seekers at the hotel is, not unlike the tourism industry, quite seasonal.
The summer months see large numbers claiming asylum and so the hotel may be at maximum capacity – which is around 515. Autumn typically sees people leaving the hotel, either to return home or to start their new lives, and numbers may drop to 230.
The majority of people at the hotel arrived not by small boat, but by flying into airports and claiming asylum.
Arden says the hotel is more like a prison than a holiday for those who are there.
She said: “It’s not a free holiday to live in this hotel. Once a week the football club comes in and does that for the kids. There’s a broken air hockey table. A broken pool table. There’s no TV in the communal lounge - which is because it was moved for safety reasons. While it was in storage, some water got to it and it never worked again. It was never replaced.
“The public need to understand that the colour of someone’s skin shouldn’t matter. They’re human beings. They’re not all economic migrants. One guy turned up with a bullet still in his arse. Some of them have got scars from bombs. There was a guy with burns all across his body.”
Behavioural issues from residents are handled not dissimilarly to a work disciplinary process. There are several stages of warnings issued depending on what has taken place and ultimately somebody from the Home Office will visit and tell the person that they can recommend their claim is refused based on their behaviour. This has mixed results.
“We had a couple who used to drink a lot,” says Arden. “A lot of these problems are brought on by trauma and mental health issues.
“When you’ve got children who were at risk of female genital mutilation and the parents have run away because they don’t want that for their daughters. Are we going to say ‘tough shit, we don’t care?’
“It takes a lot of strength to leave behind your country and your life. It’s not something they do without serious consideration. It’s often even that, or death.”
Chris Webb, MP for Blackpool South, told The Blackpool Lead: “I've consistently raised concerns shared by my constituents and the local council that this site is wholly unsuitable for housing individuals escaping war and persecution. It's been reported to me children have been living in rooms with sewage and not receiving the support they need for their disabilities. It's imperative that alternative locations across the North West are utilised by Serco to alleviate the disproportionate burden on our town.”
A spokesperson for Serco said: “Serco’s management of the Metropole Hotel on behalf of the Home Office is fully compliant and meets all our contractual obligations.
“Any suggestion that the hotel is not being managed correctly by Serco is simply not true. The hotel is routinely inspected by the Home Office and other external stakeholders such as the local council and public health and no concerns have been raised.”
But The Blackpool Lead understands that Blackpool Council has raised concerns on a number of occasions.
The council has never taken formal action against the hotel but the basement area where images show flooding should now be permanently out of use following recommendations by their public health team.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “All asylum accommodation must meet our high contractual standards by being safe, fit for purpose, and properly equipped, and where concerns are raised, we work with the provider to ensure they are addressed promptly.”
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Southport. Forever in our minds. The families, forever in our hearts.
29 July is a date which will be etched in the minds of not just people in Southport but across the UK and beyond. Last year we at The Lead were shocked and disturbed by what took place. Our Lead North correspondent and now editor of The Southport Lead, Jamie Lopez, wrote powerfully about what he saw unfold in 48-hours in his hometown which were nothing less than a nightmare for everyone involved. We stood in solidarity with Southport. And continue to do so.
The midweek edition of The Southport Lead, our newsletter dedicated to reporting on what's happening in the seaside town, marks the one year anniversary of the killings. But it also looks to the future, as we welcome Andrew Brown, who writes for The Lead as well as editing and creating Stand Up For Southport. He points to the extraordinary resilience of the families and how they, faced with the utmost horror, have come through it to do something positive in memory of Elsie, Bebe and Alice.
If people have been brave enough to flee their homes they deserve decent treatment when they arrive at a place of safety.
Homing them in severely sub-standard accommodation is completely unacceptable and it's time the government ensured that there are decent standards provided for the refugees.
Can you imagine having to leave your home to escape war and then being housed in appalling housing conditions? Of course not so why should we expect refugees to accept them.