Police treat fire at Cambridgeshire village asylum site as arson after council warned Home Office of tension

At 7.26pm on Wednesday, six fire engines attended Roman Court in Leverington. The building, a former sheltered housing complex, was unoccupied and there were no casualties, though it sustained severe damage. The Home Office had designated the site for 26 bed spaces for asylum-seeking mothers and babies. Fenland District Council had already lodged a full objection, describing the site as 'not suitable'.

More than 200 people had marched through the village of around 3,000 residents against the plan.

Steve Barclay MP called the plan a 'deliberate change of policy' to push asylum seekers into rural areas.