‘We pity the people of Piddington – our town is a no go zone thanks to migrants’

Residents living near a huge asylum site say they fear parts of their towns are becoming “no-go zones” as another community faces plans for more than 1,200 male migrants. People in Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester have spoken about their concerns over asylum seekers being taken into the towns from MDP Wethersfield in Essex. Around 800 asylum seekers are currently housed at the former Ministry of Defence Police base while they wait for decisions on their asylum applications, with numbers set to rise to between 1,245 and 1,700.

Some locals claim they have changed their daily routines because they no longer feel safe, while residents have alleged incidents including harassment, being filmed without consent, spitting and verbal abuse. However, Essex Police insists the three towns “remain safe places” and says crime is lower than it was three years ago.

Residents shared their experiences with The Sun as part of an exclusive report following a row over plans for another asylum site near Piddington in Oxfordshire.

Piddington made headlines this week after 91% of locals backed “independence” from the UK in a symbolic referendum in protest at plans to house 1,256 male migrants at a nearby former Ministry of Defence Police base.

Essex County Council deputy leader Russell Quirk said he understood the concerns in Piddington.

He told The Sun: “I feel angry on their behalf because they are about to have imposed upon them what the people of Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester have suffered for years.”

In Chelmsford, a 46-year-old personal trainer named Tracy said she had changed her shifts and the route she walks home after encounters with groups she said were from Wethersfield.

She told The Sun: “I’ve got a load of abuse for ignoring them. The last time, I heard someone spitting and realised it was at me. I looked and he went, ‘You, come here’. He started calling me a bitch, and asking why I didn’t trust him. They are sleazy.”

Another resident, identified by The Sun as Gemma, which is not her real name, said her 21-year-old daughter was frightened to walk the short distance home alone.

She told The Sun: “When she’s on her own, she calls me. She doesn’t feel safe. The Government isn’t doing anything about this.”

Concerns have also been raised in Braintree, where 74-year-old Annette Lucas said she had given her granddaughters, aged 13 and 16, rape alarms.

Essex County Council, which is led by Reform UK, has now hired six security operatives to patrol Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester.

The £144,000 three-month trial, called Operation Vanguard, comes after a survey found 70.4% were concerned about asylum seekers being brought into the towns.

But authorities have pushed back against suggestions the communities have become unsafe.

Essex Police Chief Constable Rachel Nolan has said crimes linked to “Wethersfield service users” are “very low” and there is “no reason” for concern.

Police said 23 people housed at the site had been arrested this year. Four arrests related to incidents in Essex, five were outside Essex and the remainder were at Wethersfield.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We do not recognise the alleged incidents as reported and would encourage anyone with evidence of criminal activity to report it to the police.”

The Home Office added: “We work closely with local police to ensure the safety and security of communities around the site.

“Large sites such as Wethersfield have been operating for a number of years, with no evidence of rising crime in the area.

“The Government is closing every asylum hotel, saving taxpayers over £1bn on asylum support since the election.

“We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, including former military sites which are designed to be self-contained to reduce impact on the local community.”