A worker could be employed by Hartlepool Borough Council to help asylum seekers settle into the community.

The council will decide today whether to employ another resettlement worker to coordinate rehousing and support for refugees who come to the town.

The council has provided 25 houses for asylum seekers referred to the town by the Nationality and Asylum Seeker Sections (NASS).

At the moment, only 15 houses are occupied, but the council receives 90 per cent rent from NASS for those that remain empty.

The council's Neighbourhood Services Housing Aid Team has been working with refugees who have already arrived in the area, but this has been affecting their work with other council tenants.

A spokesman for the council said: "The housing aid manager and resettlement worker are heavily involved in the project, and have been very successful in establishing a process for ensuring effective rehousing and support.

"However, this has had a detrimental effect on the housing aid service. In addition to their core working hours, the two officers are regularly meeting to work out of hours, and this cannot be sustained."

The council hopes to employ a resettlement worker, funded directly by the income from NASS, to ensure the council does not incur costs from having asylum seekers in the town.

If the resettlement worker is employed, he or she will also help people who are allowed to stay, and will work with the present resettlement worker.