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Reform council deploys private security guards in Essex towns as asylum seeker base is set to expand by 50 per cent

Norfolk Police reported officers faced "significant aggression" across three nights of Thetford disorder, including one struck by a thrown stone, one bitten, and one spat at in the face.
Norfolk Police reported officers faced "significant aggression" across three nights of Thetford disorder, including one struck by a thrown stone, one bitten, and one spat at in the face.
Peter Harris has warned he will "not sit on his hands and wait for the next incident" as the Home Office prepares to expand Wethersfield's single male asylum population by 50 per cent to 1,245.
Peter Harris has warned he will "not sit on his hands and wait for the next incident" as the Home Office prepares to expand Wethersfield's single male asylum population by 50 per cent to 1,245.

Essex County Council leader Peter Harris warned the induction process for migrants at RAF Wethersfield is "woefully inadequate" on British cultural expectations, particularly toward women and girls. The Reform-run council is spending £150,000 to station two private guards each in Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford under Operation Vanguard, funded by local council taxpayers. Harris said the council would not "sit on our hands and wait for the next incident" as the site prepares to grow from 800 to 1,245 male asylum seekers.

The Home Office says there is no evidence of increased offending in the town centres linked to Wethersfield residents.

Labour called it "gesture politics", noting the guards have no more legal powers than any ordinary member of the public.

Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford Marie Goldman accused Reform of "stoking division" rather than delivering proper neighbourhood policing.

MoreGB NewsMigrant crisis: Reform council deploys private security guards amid women's safety fears over asylum seeker centreAOL News UKReform council blasted over desperate £150,000 stunt for 'operatives' to monitor migrantsEvening StandardReform UK council to spend £150k on security guards in areas near asylum base
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