Britain will house up to 900 asylum seekers at two military bases, the government said on Tuesday, as public anger rises over the use of hotels as temporary accommodation for migrants.

It comes after a scathing report found the Home Office had squandered billions of pounds on migrant hotel contracts as a result of mismanagement and incompetence. A cross-party group of MPs also found officials had failed to recoup millions of pounds in excess profits owed by companies running the accommodation.

The Home Office has wasted billions of pounds procuring hotels to house asylum seekers, with “flawed” contracts and leadership failures leading to increased costs, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

Médecins Sans Frontières says it treats asylum seekers at Wethersfield, and in a report published in May, it said migrants had not been "appropriately screened" as to whether they were suitable for housing there.

London police have arrested a convicted sex offender and asylum-seeker who was mistakenly released from prison.

In a joint statement, council convener Bill Lobban, leader Raymond Bremner and opposition leader Alasdair Christie said: “Our main concern is the impact this proposal will have on community cohesion given the scale of the proposals as they currently stand.

A police manhunt is underway for an asylum-seeker sentenced to 12 months in a British prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, after he was mistakenly released

A councillor who attended a protest against the use of a hotel to house asylum seekers has been cleared of all accusations against her including bullying, harassment and bringing the council into disrepute. Alison Sheridan, a Conservative member of Exeter City Council, wore her council lanyard to a protest outside a hotel in Exeter.