What do locals feel about asylum seeker security plan?

Plans to employ security guards in areas close to an asylum centre have divided opinion among people living nearby.

MDP Wethersfield, near Halstead in north Essex, has been used to house single male migrants since 2023 and the government is looking to increase the number of people accommodated there from about 800 to 1,220.

Reform-led Essex County Council said it planned to introduce security personnel in Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford, to which some of the migrants travel by bus.

The authority said the three-month trial, named Operation Vanguard, would act as a "visible presence to reassure residents and deter and prevent any anti-social behaviour". A contract has yet to be been awarded.

Council leader Peter Harris described the move as a "proportionate response", saying residents in towns near the asylum centre had raised concerns.

Funding would come from drawing down £150,000 from the "community innovation and improvement fund".

Debbie Miller, 59, has lived in Chelmsford for almost 30 years.

"I really only come down here with my husband because I don't feel safe," she said.

"I don't think it was as safe as it used to be."

She said the town had drastically changed since asylum seekers started arriving and said there were "too many of them now".

Lynda Page, 77, who has lived in Chelmsford her whole life, said: "I'm not particularly perturbed that they are here.

"I just feel sorry for these people that cannot live in their own country and they've got to leave because of whatever is going on there.

"I think it is sad, I think we're very lucky that we live in a country that is stable and solid and mostly safe."

Ryan Locke, 20, from Braintree, said he had not seen any disturbances caused by the asylum seekers.

"I mean if they are doing day-to-day things and leaving people alone - then it's alright but if they do more than that then they need to sort something out with that."

Jessica Okunzuwea, 25, a trainee solicitor, from Chelmsford, said spending money on increased security due to asylum seekers was "low-key unnecessary".

"There are other things the council could be spending their budget on rather than security relating to this specific issue, if we are talking about security on the whole then that's a different perspective," she said.

The Lib Dem group leader on Essex County Council, David King, said: "Our city centres are very largely welcoming and safe places, with councils that already address the issues that do arise, like street drinkers, with robust enforcement and education, working with the police and businesses."

Lee Scott, Conservative opposition leader said: "Whilst we are not opposing the trial it will go to scrutiny committee to see how it is working and if it is succeeding in making our residents feel safer."

Linda Stratful, 74, said she stopped coming into Braintree town centre on a Thursday because, she said, it was when asylum seekers received their charity distributions.

"They look at women - they look at us not kindly and that makes me feel very uneasy," she said.

"I feel very uneasy for the young girls, I don't know if this is why we don't see a lot of young girls walking around the town like we used to."

Stratful said she is not against the security idea but added: "What will they be able to do legally, they won't have the same powers as policemen, I assume.

"Will it just be money well spent or will it be a presence, I'm not sure."

Cherrilynne Britt, 19, said she has not been made to feel unsafe by the asylum seekers despite visiting Braintree "quite often".

She said the extra security was needed in the area in general - but not specifically because of the asylum seekers.

"It is needed but it will hit close to home for people who are already struggling with money because that is going to come out of taxes, so it will affect a lot of people with that."

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