WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? Moving 800 young male Muslim asylum seeker wannabes into a tiny British town of just 700 residents

UK residents of a quiet picture-postcard village say they are about to become outnumbered by asylum seekers housed at a former RAF airfield next door. While the village has a population of 707 people, the Home Office plans to boost the number of migrants at MDP Wethersfield from 580 to 800.

Daily Mail Villagers in Wethersfield, near Braintree, Essex say they do not feel safe walking the streets and country lanes at night due to the threat of anti-social behaviour by groups of men from the UK’s biggest facility for asylum seekers roaming the area.

Those living nearest the base, which was previously the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) HQ, and before that a WW2 RAF and US airbase, say their houses are now unsaleable.

Ungrateful Muslim freeloaders have the nerve to complain about their free accommodations:

Melody and Alan Temperley, both 77, have lived next to the base for three decades, but say their spacious house – and others nearby housing their sons and grandchildren – have been rendered worthless because of the centre and its inhabitants.

‘Now, I wouldn’t take my dog out on my own on the lanes nearby, because you’re likely to meet groups of bored, single young men hanging around. She said the presence her three teenage grand-daughters has meant the family have had to install CCTV cameras and ‘keep out’ signs along their private lanes, which were never necessary before.

‘Everyone here is worried about what might happen. And we shouldn’t be living with that doubt. ‘We’ve had numerous politicians over the last two years saying that they disagree with being here, including Keir Starmer before he was elected, and so did Wes Streeting. ‘I’ve written to Mr Starmer to remind him of that fact, but had no reply. Now they are going to increase the population from 580 people to 800.’

‘There was an incident recently where some of the young men from the centre were sitting watching the children’s playground, which made the mums feel nervous. ‘And when they left, some of the asylum seekers appeared to follow them in which made people feel even more uncomfortable.’

There have been reports of men defaecating in the lane leading up to the centre and Melody Temperley’s husband Alan said that on one occasion as he drove slowly along the lane, passing migrants, one of them threw himself onto the bonnet of his car.

Since the base began to take asylum seekers in July 2023, house sales have all-but dried up in Wethersfield.

Rose Witcher, 42, lives in a rented cottage with her partner within sight of the sports hall on the base and all day long and into the night she can hear a weird banshee-like wailing which she assumes is the sounds of football matches going on.

In November 2023, the migrants themselves staged a noisy protest outside the centre, and a year ago the then Home Secretary – and local MP – James Cleverly – was officially warned by the Immigration Watchdog David Neal that the site was at immediate risk of descending into criminality, arson and assaults on staff.

Jeff, a 54-year-old builder, has no sympathy for his new neighbours. ‘When you drive past them, you can see the way they look at you,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t know why we have to be lumbered with the problem of living cheek-by-jowl with them. ‘I honestly don’t know why we’re housing them at all – just send them back where they came from would be my answer.’