BIBBY LEGAL TEST CASE WITHIN DAYS

Portland mayor's crowdfunded challenge over Home Office 'bypassing planning regulations'

- MATTHEW DRESCH

A LEGAL challenge against plans to house 500 asylum seekers on the cramped Bibby Stockholm barge is set to go before a judge at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The vessel, moored in Portland Port in Dorset, has been empty since the first 39 on board were evacuated over fears of a deadly legionella outbreak.

Now Portland mayor Carralyn Parkes has launched legal action as a private citizen, claiming the Home Office should have obtained planning permission for the accommodation.