A YORK hotel which is earmarked to accommodate asylum seekers has suddenly cancelled a couple's booking to stay there next week for a city break.

Steve Morgan, from Derby, said he planned to spend three nights with his wife Margery at the hotel from next Monday, so they could do some Christmas shopping in the city.

However, he received an email yesterday saying his reservation had been cancelled, and later received another email from Booking.com, with whom he had booked the stay, saying: "We apologize for any inconvenience caused to you. This is absolutely not the situation we want to put you in, because we want our customers to receive the best possible service."

It said the hotel had said it could no longer accommodate the Morgans, but Booking.com had found an alternative place they might stay, and it would look into a refund if they faced any additional charges.

Mr Morgan said he had managed to find an alternative hotel, the Holiday Inn in Piccadilly, at a slightly higher cost.

The Press reported earlier this month that a major city centre hotel had been chosen to house asylum seekers this winter, but opted not to name it because of concerns about the potential impact on vulnerable people staying there. This is the hotel which has cancelled the Morgans' booking.

Mr Morgan said he would like to make it clear he didn't blame the hotel or Booking.com, but was upset with the Home Office for their 'very blunt, heavy-handed approach to the problem they are trying to address.'

He claimed: "They appear now to be so worried about being criticised for not adequately housing asylum seekers that they are requisitioning high end hotels at very short notice. 

"There seems little common sense or balance being displayed by their actions. I know it is a difficult situation but I am personally convinced there must be more logical options. Possibly empty residential caravan parks at this time of year."

Cllr Darryl Smalley, the council's executive member for communities, said earlier this month that the authority had faced an 'absolute nightmare' getting accurate information out of the Home Office in terms of the kind of people who will be using the hotel and the security arrangements.

A Home Office spokesperson said today it neither confirmed nor denied if asylum seekers were staying in specific hotels, but it believed the use of hotels to house asylum seekers was 'unacceptable'.

They said there were currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels, costing the UK taxpayer £5.6million a day, but the use of hotels was a short-term solution and it was working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.

“The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain," they added.