Essex County Council’s Leader has announced a plan to introduce security to three town and city centres to provide reassurance to residents, with the number of asylum seekers at the Home Office’s Wethersfield accommodation centre set to increase by more than 50%.

Operation Vanguard is being announced in response to community concerns regarding the gatherings of men who are resident at the base and are bussed into Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford town centres on a daily basis. Operation Vanguard will introduce security operatives into the three town and city centres, funded by the county council, as a visible presence to reassure residents and deter and prevent any anti-social behaviour.  The county council is in the process of contracting a security company.

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Wethersfield is currently a short-term home to approximately 800 men awaiting the determination of asylum applications, but which the Home Office recently announced would be expanding to accommodate 1,245 migrants, and potentially 1,700.

The Leader of Essex County Council, Councillor Peter Harris, said: “This is a positive and proportionate response to the concerns residents have been raising for many months now regarding the daily bussing of asylum seekers from Wethersfield to Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford.

“Concerns for community safety are clearly there, particularly among women and girls, because of the daily gatherings of asylum seekers – gatherings which will increase in number and size as the facility expands."