Crowborough residents 'absolutely incensed' as migrants are moved into community despite protests: 'A punch in the stomach!'

Locals have protested against the use of the camp in their masses, but the first 27 migrants were moved in at 3.30am on Thursday morning.

Mr Brown previously outlined his concerns with the People's Channel ahead of the move, due to his home being located just a few hundred yards from the camp.

Delivering his scathing assessment of the Government's decision to go ahead, Mr Brown fumed: "We live almost next door to the main entrance to the camp, and I think it's important to say that this isn't a current military base or an ex-military base, we've been living here for 22 years, and it's a cadet training centre, and has been ever since we moved in.

"And ironically, we chose the location because we actually thought it would be quite secure, being next door to the camp. So we're literally a couple of hundred yards from the main entrance, and we were told by the Home Office before Christmas that we would get 72 hours' notice before any illegal migrants were moved into the camp.

"Then there was an announcement at 8.30am on Wednesday evening to say that they were going to be moving them in, and seven hours later, at 3.30am in the morning, the first ones arrived. So that gives you an idea of how much you can trust the information that comes from the Home Office."

Casting doubt on the Government's assurance that the camp will provide "temporary" accommodation for the migrants, Mr Brown told GB News: "We've been told and reassured that this is going to be a temporary situation that is only going to be for 12 months, but there are rumours that contractors have already been asked to quote beyond that initial 12-month period.

"So we know it's it's not going to be temporary, it's going to be permanent, and as a community, we are absolutely incensed. We've been completely ignored."

Warning that the weekly protests by concerned locals are going to become "huge", he said: "We've had protests that we've been doing every weekend since this was announced at the beginning of November.

"The numbers have been ranging from sort of 4,000 people down to probably 1,500 to 2,000 people, but Sunday is going to be huge.

"We've just been ignored and it feels like we've been punched in the stomach by the Government. That's how we feel as a community.

"But we can't take it lying down, we've got too much to lose. The very fabric of our local town, which is a peaceful, generous, warmhearted community, is under threat."

Questioned by host Miriam Cates on whether he feels "reassured" by the Home Office claims that migrants will only be housed for "three months", he hit back: "Absolutely not, because we know that the first thing that these illegal immigrants do when they get onto the beach at Calais is they dump all of their identification documents.

"They arrive on the boats and they are processed. How do we know that they're giving their correct names? Are they lying about where they've come from?

"We know that a lot of these migrants have already been given asylum in other countries in Europe."

A Crowborough councillor has also hit out at the Government's decision to begin moving the migrants in, declaring a "day of shame" for Labour.

Delivering his stark assessment of the operation, Mr Lunn told the People's Channel: "We've had absolutely no consultation, no evidence presented to us as councillors, even though the Home Office actually promised to give us that evidence, and we've not seen anything.

"We've got a bus service right outside this gate, and we've got young girls and schoolchildren travelling through this area, and there are real concerns that the migrants will jump on those buses, or will have actually dedicated transport to transport them to local towns, and there's nothing for them to do. This is a rural area, there's not much here, and so there are real concerns.

"I've spoken to residents this morning, and they're really worried about what is coming. There's real concern, residents are really worried. It's a day of shame for the Government. A day of shame."

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said of the move: "Crowborough is just the start. I will bring forward site after site until every asylum hotel is closed and returned to local communities. I will not rest until order and control to our borders is restored."