Official Home Office figures confirm that no asylum seekers live in Hartlepool hotels

The official Home Office statistics provide a breakdown for each local authority nationwide as of June 30.

No asylum seekers were living in County Durham hotels, according to the figures, with none living in either Hartlepool or County Durham hotels as of March 31 either.

The comparative data shows that the number living temporarily in Stockton hotels reduced over the three-month period from 19 to 18.

The figures were released amid a series of weekend demonstrations nationwide by campaigners on both sides of the ongoing debate.

Epping Forest District Council, in Essex, where people have protested over the use of The Bell Hotel for asylum seekers, saw an increase from 28 to 199 in the three-month period.

There were 32,059 asylum seekers in hotels nationwide on June 30.

This was up from 29,585 at the same point a year earlier, when the Conservatives were in power, but down on the 32,345 March figure.