PLANS to house asylum seekers in an east Cleveland town have been dropped after private security firm G4S decided it was “not suitable”.

Residents had packed out a public meeting on Monday evening to voice their concern about the prospect of refugees being housed in their town.

The move to drop the scheme was welcomed by local independent councillor Wayne Davies last night, as he explained residents were concerned about the lack of facilities and infrastructure in the town for refugees.

People at the public meeting had raised concerns about the lack of information available about the potential incomers.

Yesterday David Walsh, cabinet member for adults at Redcar & Cleveland Council, said: “The council fully supports the integration of asylum seekers and we already have a number living in the borough. We have attended a meeting with a number of partners, including G4S, this morning, and discussed the concerns that have been raised.

“It is important to ensure that anyone housed in the borough has proper access to a number of services, including health, transport and education. It was therefore felt that proposals to house some asylum seekers in this particular property were not suitable at this time. We will continue to work with G4S to integrate asylum seekers into our community.”