A COUNCILLOR has been forced to speak out after “false claims” spread about a former Forest hotel being used to house migrants.
The 17-bedroom Fountain Court Hotel in Frost Lane, Hythe has been the subject of rumours for some time, said Cllr Malcolm Wade, who represents the area on the parish, district and county councils. The hotel is currently closed to guests.
The former Fountain Court Hotel in Frost Lane, Hythe (picture: Google)
He said: “There has been a lot of concern that Fountain Court is to be used to house asylum seekers – well, it is not true.
“I personally visited the site, but nobody was there so I contacted New Forest District Council, and spoke to a senior director. It is a legally complex process to use a hotel for this purpose and NFDC would be the first of many agencies to be contacted for permission.”
Cllr Malcolm Wade
He added: “They have had no information or requests for this to happen. There are no asylum seeker hotels in the New Forest district. Hythe and this hotel are not suitable for this type of activity so – to coin a popular phrase – it must be fake news.”
He said he felt he needed to make enquiries as “the rumor was worrying and concerning many local residents”. He added: “This is the third time a false rumour has been started on this subject about Fountain Court and one can only speculate why somebody with all the current issues spread across the media is trying to wind up the community with fake news.
“As a local councillor who cares about Hythe and Dibden and its residents, with all the genuine cost of living, NHS, and other problems people are facing, they do not need to be worrying about something which is not true.”
Rumours have circulated on social media about the hotel, which is listed on Companies House trading as Hythe Hotel. Its directors, Ahtesham and Mehran Younis, were appointed in January, with its office listed as Fountain Court Hotel.
The hotel is now known as the Hythe Hotel (picture: Google)Signs outside the property showing its new name (picture: Google)
Among the raft of comments to which Cllr Wade was responding was: “I knew it wouldn’t take long. Fountain Court Hotel has been sold to the government and is being refurbished to be used as a migrant hotel. I’m genuinely scared to death for my children.”
Another added: “I’m sure the population of the Waterside will not tolerate this and we will be the next postcode to make a stand against this treachery.”
One woman said she had “stopped my daughter going out down there”, adding it was “an ideal place for boats, right next to Shore Road”.
Others spoke in support of migrants, with one resident saying they hoped “they’ll be treated with kindness and dignity” if they were housed locally. Another said: “[The] only reason Hythe is ‘unsuitable’ is because of the sheer amount of bigots around.”
A spokesperson for NFDC told the A&T: “The council has not been approached by the Home Office to support its efforts to provide asylum accommodation in the area.”