GOVERNMENT plans to house 83 asylum seekers on a road dubbed “migrant street” have been halted following a dramatic U-turn.

Locals of Stoke Heath, Shropshire, expressed fury that asylum seekers would be living in a row of £250,000 newbuild houses.

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Local Tory MP Mark Pritchard said he received good news about the plans after a meeting with residents yesterday Credit: Gov.uk

Villagers have been left furious over plans to move 83 asylum seekers into newbuild homes Credit: SWNS

Earlier this week, we told how 83 migrants were set to be moved into 21 new houses in the area.

The road – dubbed Migrant Street by locals – was designated for social housing before Home Office contractor Serco took it over.

The move came as the Government phases out migrant hotels by 2029 and relocates people into “properties and ex-military sites”.

Residents argued the village was too cut off for asylum seekers – with the closest shop being four miles away and a half-an-hour walk to the nearest bus stop.

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Following the backlash in Stoke Heath, the Government had reportedly “put a halt” on moving asylum seekers onto the street.

The U-turn came minutes before locals attended a meeting with Tory MP Mark Pritchard who previously said the village was “completely inappropriate” for the scheme.

More than 100 residents – who could only enter with a photo ID – crammed into Stoke-on-Tern Parish Hall last night.

Afterwards, Mr Pritchard said: “It was a well attended meeting.“I thought the meeting raised important, legitimate questions and it was done in a respectful and moderate way.

“It is disappointing that Serco, who were invited but didn’t attend, Shropshire Council were invited, they didn’t attend.

“The Home Office were invited and they failed to send a representative.“I felt it was important to continue to have this community meeting so I could reflect the concerns of the local residents.

“The update I have is good news.

“On the way to the meeting this evening I received a call from a very senior Home Office official that said they are putting a halt, which is what I was calling for, on any further asylum seekers going into the street.”

Following the U-turn, resident Tonia Roberts said she was hopeful the newbuild homes would be used for social housing.

She said: “We’re just hoping we’ll get a good result. It’s given us some hope I think, whereas before we didn’t have hope.

“It’s not an appropriate place to have these asylum seekers. There’s nothing there. We just cannot facilitate them, quite frankly.

“The family that were there have moved out. I think they felt a bit nervous about being there on their own.

“It’s still going to be weeks and weeks before we know, but it does give us a little bit more confidence that things will be going in the right way.”