ASYLUM seekers will not be coming to a Winchester hotel, documents seen by the Chronicle have confirmed.  

The Home Office had earmarked the Winchester Royal Hotel in St Peter Street as a potential place to house asylum seekers in all 160 beds.  

Documents from the Home Office, released on Monday, now confirm that the deal has come to an end.  

A Home Office official wrote: “It has become clear that we have been unable to secure this hotel and we will therefore not be using it to accommodate destitute asylum seekers.”  

The hotel is owned by Castlebridge Hospitality Group, which also owns Holiday Inn Winchester and five other hotels across the country.  

Castlebridge boss Simon Hall ‘categorically’ denied that the hotel would enter into any arrangements with the Home Office, despite the government organisation involving local authorities such as Hampshire County Council, Winchester City Council, South East Councils and other agencies.  

READ MORE: Hotel boss says asylum seekers will not be moving into Winchester Royal Hotel

Mr Hall said: “It is certainly not our intention to use the hotel for that purpose.”  

He also moved to reassure people with existing bookings that it was ‘business as usual.’ 

Mr Hall said they had received no contact from the Home Office and that they had flat refused offers for similar schemes for the Holiday Inn Winchester and an offer for the Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham.   

Mr Hall said that housing asylum seekers was not something the hotel group would consider doing – despite rival hotels groups setting up similar deals across the country such as ones in Andover and Southsea.   

Paperwork – seen by the Chronicle – shows that the Home Office had its sights on the hotel for as early as Friday, September 30.  

The news had come as a shock to some residents, who feared for tourism in the city.  

Previous hotel owner, Tony Smith, who owned the hotel from 1992 until 2002, labelled it a ‘terrible idea.’    

Winchester MP Steve Brine had also voiced concerns – and he welcomed the reversal.  

He said: “It was very clear from my briefing with Home Office officials last Friday that the owners of the Winchester Royal Hotel were willing to see their hotel used but they have obviously had a change of heart.

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"For many different reasons, including those raised by the police and our local authorities, I think on balance that was a wise decision. 

“Winchester has shown, with Hong Kong nationals, Afghans and of course our Ukrainian friends, it’s rightly got a big heart when it comes to welcoming people to our city but this would have been on a completely different scale and it would certainly have challenged some as principle and reality collide.

"I am sure we will continue to, more than, do our bit as a city for those seeking sanctuary in this country.”