A reception centre is being set up to cater for 660 asylum seekers due to arrive in Bradford over the next year.

The district will provide refuge to 20 asylum seekers per week until April, when numbers will settle at about ten per week.

On Wednesday, councillors will be asked to approve plans to create a new reception centre which will act as a clearing facility.

Asylum seekers will spend their first two to three days at the centre - at a secret location in the city - where they will undergo health checks.

Interpreters will be on hand to help officials carry out checks on identity and nationality, and assess the needs of individuals and families.

The centre is needed urgently because it is not known in advance what time of day the asylum seekers will arrive in Bradford. A property has been identified and is being prepared for the purpose and the local ward councillors and the area's MP have been notified.

Council bosses say they expect the Government grants of £150 per week for adults and £220 per week for families to cover their costs.

From April different funding arrangements will come into play when Bradford will receive part of a Government grant given to the Yorkshire and Humberside region for the purposes of catering for asylum seekers.

"The asylum seekers will be from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and may well only have the clothes they stand up in," said Councillor Susan Dewdney, deputy executive member for homes and environment.

"They will initially receive Red Cross parcels and then food vouchers. Bradford has a proud record of helping refugees and immigrants in distress, and I am pleased to say that offers of support have already been made by numerous agencies and voluntary groups across the district."

Ten regions across the UK will be receiving asylum seekers over the next year, including Yorkshire and Humberside.

This is the result of the new Immigration and Asylum Act, which requires local authorities to take asylum seekers in a bid to relieve the pressure on London and Kent.

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