COPS were called after a self-styled activist went into a migrants’ hotel and took videos — amid claims it offers a “luxury” lifestyle.
The clips he recorded show diners tucking into meals from a well-stocked buffet, plus a table-tennis room with plush sofas and other games.
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The hotel was given a Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in 2023
The clips the activist recorded show diners tucking into meals
The footage emerged weeks after we revealed police had issued rape alarms to schoolgirls who had been photographed by men staying at the four-star Mercure in Dumfries.
During the latest incident last month, the ‘activist’ pointed his phone at several information notices he described as “all in different languages”. He was then confronted by security staff.
In the video, which was shared on social media, a hotel employee is heard telling him: “I’m going to phone the police.”
The man replies: “Just having a quick look around. It’s very nice, innit?”
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After turning the camera to show residents’ meal options, he says: “This is what they’re getting fed in here.
“Look at this, people. Yeah, lamb curry.”
And while being pressed by staff to get out, the man adds: “Beautiful room this.
“Right, they’ve asked us to leave, so we need to go. Yeah, that’s the wonderful Mercure.
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“As you can see — filled with food, absolutely gorgeous, in the most luxury hotel I’ve been in so far.”
Last night, a spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We were called to the hotel on April 15.
“However, there was nothing ongoing upon arrival, and no complaints were made.”
But one local who watched the video insisted the hotel should be “shut down” and claimed that asylum seekers were “living in luxury”.
The Dumfries resident said: “I couldn’t believe the way they are looked after.
“Huge amounts of food and a games room. They are living in luxury while thousands of Scots are living in poverty.
“It is just not fair. I accept that they are migrants and need to be housed.
“But why in luxury hotels? This is costing us millions of pounds each year.
The video shows a well-stocked buffet in the hotel Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
There is also a games room for those staying in the hotel
Plus a table-tennis room with plush sofas and other games
Parents previously claimed that young girls are too scared to walk the streets of their home town Credit: Michael Schofield
“And it is the hard-working people who are paying for it. It should be shut down, and the migrants moved out.
“There are serious safety concerns.”
We told last month how parents claimed male residents of the hotel had been leering at schoolkids.
Our reporter spent a day in the town and witnessed about 15 men congregate in the main shopping area watching pupils on their lunch break.
Earlier this year, a man who was staying in the Mercure was arrested over a “child protection” concern.
The hotel was handed a Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in 2023.
It is believed the deal was to cater for single males.
Last month, a Home Office spokesman said: “The UK Government is removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants here.
“That is why we will close every single asylum hotel, moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation.”