By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-19 05:00:37 | Updated at 2026-10-19 06:11:47
1 hour ago
Councillors are calling on Labour to immediately close two asylum seeker centres in the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield after residents living near taxpayer-funded accommodation have told GB News they are too scared to go out.
Police have made five arrests at Urban House asylum accommodation in less than a month for alleged rape and child sex assault.
Some residents have said they are selling up to leave the area, and police have started reassurance patrols.
Urban House, opposite Wakefield prison, is one of Yorkshire's largest asylum processing and dispersal centres and houses hundreds of men, women, and children.
Reform UK Councillor Matthew Caton, the Portfolio Holder for Children & Young People at Wakefield Council, told GB News that he is deeply concerned about the recent criminal allegations.
He said: "Urban House has been operating in various guises since 2007 - it shut down in 2011, we believe, for health and safety and living concerns, and reopened again a few months later as asylum seeker accommodation."
"The capacity of this place is three hundred or more beds, and the current occupation is between 200 and 260, so it's a substantial facility. It's the largest of its type in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. When it comes to a dispersal centre, it should be operating within a two- to three-day window to disperse out of the community.
"In actuality, that's looking two to three months. In the past, that's been as much as two to three years. These people are in this facility in our district with very little vetting, very few checks. We have no eyes on them as a council. The Home Office just imposes them on us and into our district.
"So when it comes to safeguarding of children, for instance, we're absolutely blind in many instances. There are concerns about the direction of travel nationally when it comes to the protection of children.
"We see the information when these people are potentially processing out of the centre, so in my capacity as safeguarding children and young people, how am I meant to protect the children and young people of this district, when I have no idea who's coming in and out of this facility?"
He added: "When you've got undocumented, unvetted people in this facility by the hundred, they [residents] have every right to be concerned."
In the May local elections, Reform UK won 58 of the 63 seats up for grabs in Wakefield and ended decades of Labour majority rule.
Labour had controlled Wakefield continuously since 1974, but the party was left with just one seat after the council elections.
Reform UK are planning nationally to effectively close down the UK's asylum system for a full parliamentary term if elected, saying they would reject all new asylum applications and void existing ones, with all claimants marked for deportation.
It said it would make no grants of humanitarian protection or refugee status, and would end legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes.
On a local level, Reform UK-led Wakefield Council has no involvement in the Urban House asylum seeker site, but is urging Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to close it down, along with Cedar Court Hotel as asylum accommodation sites in the city.
Councillor Karl Johnson, Reform UK Leader of Wakefield Council, told GB News that serious criminal allegations at Urban House have raised significant concerns about public and community safety.
"We should not have illegal immigrants in Wakefield, we shouldn't even have them in the country," said Cllr Johnson.
"The government is just not listening to the people of this country. This is not just an overnight problem. This started a long time ago. This is a district problem and also a national problem and without a change of national government, I do see this problem getting worse and worse and worse.
"We've put something to full council in an emergency motion, asking for the national government to remove these people from Cedar Court and remove them from Urban House and stop this happening. We cannot carry on like this.
"It's getting to a point of no return. The simple answer is, we've got to stop this happening. We need to get rid of illegal immigrants. We just cannot carry on like this. It's ridiculous. We need to look after our residents and make sure they feel safe in their homes."
Visitors and residents in Wakefield are also concerned about the Urban House facility and told GB News they have seen a wider decline in the city, with an increase in crime.
Steve Jones said: "Asylum seekers have been housed in Wakefield for a couple of years now, and it has added to the crime. The asylum centre in particular is very bad, and the fact that it is near to the Category A prison doesn't add to the assurance. The asylum centre should be closed down."
Lesley Page-Dixon said: "Everybody's worried about it. I think we're all worried about that kind of thing, aren't we? It's not just for us. It's for our children and also our grandchildren that live here."
Terry Siviter said: "It's definitely not as safe as it was. You could walk into town, but I don't think I'd walk around here now in certain places."
Barbara Webster said: "It used to be Yorkshire and now it's not. It's foreign people that are around. I'm not against it, but it's no longer what I call a traditional Yorkshire town. It's lost the plot.
"But it's not just Yorkshire, is it? It's nationwide. I am totally gutted as to how it's deteriorated, irrespective of all the beautiful streets. It's lost its character."
The Home Office have condemned the alleged crimes at Urban House.
A spokesman said: "These allegations are sickening and our thoughts are with the victims. We will not tolerate criminal behaviour. Anyone convicted of a serious sexual offence will have their asylum claim rejected and we will seek to remove them at the first opportunity.
"Strengthened safety measures have been put in place at the site and an increased police presence has immediately been deployed."
The Home Office added that returns have increased by 52 per cent in the two years up to 30 June 2026.
They stressed that more than 80,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals have been returned or deported from the UK since the election, and returns are at their highest level in nearly a decade.
West Yorkshire Police have increased patrols around Urban House.
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bainbridge, Wakefield district commander, said: "Local officers have reassurance patrols taking place in and around the area and regularly work with the staff at the premises. We are continuing to work closely with the Home Office and the council to address any concerns."
