ASYLUM seekers with disabilities were “abandoned” in a former care home in Clacton, it is claimed.

It is understood the former care home, which was set up in November, has no care workers or nurses as part of its contract with the Home Office.

The Home Office has been accused of abandoning the 55 asylum seekers, some of whom have severe disabilities.

It is thought some of them had fled various conflict zones including Sudan and Afghanistan.

“Everybody is suffering in this place,” one of the asylum seekers told the Guardian newspaper.

“It used to be a care home but now there is no care.

“We are free to come and go but to me, this place feels like an open prison. We have just been left here and abandoned.”

It is claimed that those in the former care home have a range of health conditions including loss of limbs, blindness, deafness and some need to use a wheelchair.

Tendring Council said it “robustly” expressed concerns about the site to the Home Office.

Council leader Mark Stephenson said: "Since we were first notified about these plans we have robustly expressed concerns about the suitability of this specific location which we feel is unsuitable both for those placed there, and the existing community given other pressures on services and levels of deprivation – and have repeatedly asked for information and assurances around our concerns.

"People placed here are vulnerable due to additional care needs, and we have been doing what we can within our remit, and the bounds of propriety, to help them.”

He added that the facility has been directly commissioned by the Home Office to a provider to run, and therefore the onus should be on that contractor to fund relevant services.

"We have installed our Careline service, free of charge, meaning if anyone frail falls we can support and lift them without having to resort to an ambulance,” he added.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those on asylum support, including people with disabilities.

“However, we do not operate care homes nor commission ‘care’ as it is not within our statutory remit.

“Asylum accommodation providers are contractually obliged to ensure accommodation is accessible for disabled people and where concerns are raised we work with providers to ensure they are addressed.”