No asylum seekers have been housed in hotels in Gwynedd, new figures show.

Refugee charity, the Refugee Council, say hotels should never be used to house asylum seekers, saying it leaves vulnerable people isolated and at risk of being targeted by the far-right.

Home Office figures show the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has dropped 41 per cent across the UK, from 50,500 in June 2023 to 29,600 at the same point this year.

The figures further show no asylum seekers were housed in hotels in Gwynedd in June – the same as a year earlier.

In total, 27 asylum seekers were receiving a form of government support in Gwynedd as of June.

This was up from 16 in June 2023.

The national backlog of asylum applicants has remained steady since last quarter, even if it has dropped compared to a year earlier.

In total, 118,900 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June, down by 32 per cent from 175,500 at the end of June last year, but up slightly from the 118,300 waiting to be dealt with at the end of March.

The figures come amid calls to allow asylum seekers to work while their applications are being processed.

Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action said: "The new Government could improve people’s lives, increase community cohesion and give a huge boost to local economies by giving people seeking asylum the right to work."

A Home Office spokesperson said the Government is taking steps to strengthen border security and stop channel crossings.

They said: "The Home Secretary has taken immediate action to clear the asylum backlog and enhance the Government’s immigration enforcement and returns capability, redeploying hundreds of staff to increase the removal of those with no right to be here.

"As announced this week, we have also recruited up to 100 new specialist officers at the National Crime Agency who will work alongside our new Border Security Command to target, disrupt and dismantle criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit."