THE number of asylum seekers living in the North-East could almost double in the next year, it was revealed yesterday.

The Home Office is telling local authorities in the region to be ready to take up to 9,000 refugees by March next year - compared to the 5,500 who are currently waiting for their applications to be processed.

The figures were released as the Government announced asylum applications had risen five per cent over the past month and promised to speed up the deportation of unsuccessful applicants.

Yesterday, the Government came under fire for failing to meet its target set last year to return 12,000 applicants refused refugee status.

Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe branded the Government's asylum procedures as "inadequate" and that Britain had become a "soft touch" for refugees.

In the North-East, there are between 5,000 and 5,500 asylum seekers living across the region, from Darlington to Northumberland.

But Naseem Ahmad, regional manager for the North East Consortium for Asylum Support Services, said the region was preparing to take thousands more.

"The Government's target is that they think the region will be expecting between eight and nine thousand by March 2002."

They would be accommodated by local authorities, private providers and housing associations.

About half of the asylum seekers in the region live in Newcastle, the scene of a near-riot last May when 200 of them protested about their living conditions.

James Kyle, of the North of England Refuge Service, said: "They have been subject to racist attacks in the street or have had their windows broken. It tends to be more in areas like Grangetown and South Bank in Teesside where they get a lot of problems."

The Home Office said despite the monthly rise, the number of asylum applications in 2000-2001 had dropped by two per cent compared with the previous 12 months.

Mr Straw announced yesterday it would be using more charter aircrafts to repatriate unsuccessful asylum seekers.