'It was dark, the waves were very high - it was very, very hard'

THE M.E.N. SPEAKS TO ASYLUM SEEKERS WHOSE HOUSING AT A HOTEL HAS DIVIDED A TOWN

- DAMON WILKINSON, NICK JACKSON

ABEL Nigussie crossed the Channel in a small boat in the middle of the night.

The 24-year-old says he was crammed in with '80 or 90' others making the treacherous journey in the hope of starting a new life. Now, just a fortnight later, he's living in the Cresta Court Hotel on the outskirts of Altrincham town centre.

"I was lucky," he says as he sits on a picnic bench in the car park. "I have no money [to pay to cross the Channel] but some people tell me how to hide on the boat.

"I tried four or five times, everybody running, eventually I hide myself. There were 80-plus people on the boat. Many, many people.

The journey took eight hours. It was dark, the waves were very high. It was very, very hard." Abel, who is originally from Eritrea in east Africa, is one of around 300 male asylum seekers being put up at Cresta Court. It comes after the government said it would stop using hotels to house asylum seekers.

Their arrival has divided opinion in the town. Some welcome the refugees with open arms. Others are concerned about their presence.

And another group say the community is being kept in the dark about the 'highly sensitive situation! A wave of far-right riots over the summer at asylum seeker hotels across the country has further stoked division and distrust among communities.

Trafford's Conservative group leader Coun Nathan Evans has launched a petition against what he describes as the influx of migrants.

The petition describes the use of the hotel as 'unacceptable' and has raised concerns about the economic impact of the loss of guests on local businesses.

The petition adds: "We are also aware of growing safety concerns within the community. Many residents feel uneasy about the implications of housing asylum seekers in Altrincham's hotels, so close to our schools, we must prioritise the wellbeing of our constituents."