… and they’re not so welcome over here

RESIDENTS suggested their market town was being used as a ‘dumping ground’ after Calais child migrants were moved into a manor house retreat yesterday.

Up to 70 young male refugees are to be housed on a tranquil woodland estate in North Devon which was the inspiration for classic novel Tarka The Otter.

At least 20 yesterday arrived at 17th century Beam House, which is usually run as an adventure holiday home where children pay up to £450 a week. The huge property is kitted out with bunk beds, a dining area, showers and toilets, and is close to the beach at Westward Ho!

A group of migrant teenagers were yesterday seen playing basketball at the secluded riverside spot, two miles from the small town of Great Torrington.

The first arrivals were transferred to the ‘respite facility’ yesterday from an immigration centre in Croydon, South London.

But town councillor David Cox said Great Torrington was an inappropriate choice. He added: ‘Have we been used a dumping ground? Probably. It is so isolated. They would integrate better in a city or town. There is nothing for youngsters here.’

Community leader Nick Hallam, secretary of the Great Torrington Cavaliers fundraising group, suggested the town was a ‘bizarre’ choice to take the refugees and added: ‘The Home Office should have consulted with the local community.’

The young males have arrived under the ‘Dubs amendment’, which grants refuge in Britain to the most vulnerable unaccompanied children in Europe. Devon County Council said the migrants might stay in Great Torrington for only 72 hours, although it added that the situation was ‘fluid’.

Town mayor Margaret Brown welcomed the migrants, saying: ‘They will need time to acclimatise, get comfortable and get used to life outside of incarceration.’

Geoffrey Cox, Tory MP for Torridge and West Devon, said: ‘This country must respond compassionately to the plight of children caught up in the dangerous situation that has been allowed to develop in Calais.’