A HIGH Court hearing into the future of an Essex airfield proposed to hold asylum seekers is set to be heard tomorrow.

Braintree Council applied for an injunction against the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence to stop them establishing an asylum centre at Wethersfield Airfield.

After the application, the council secured agreement from the High Court for a full injunction to be heard on April 19.

As part of the council’s legal proceedings, the Home Office confirmed to the judge hearing the case they will not move asylum seekers on to Wethersfield Airfield until a time after the court hearing and will only do so if they succeed in defending their position against the injunction. 

The Home Office has however confirmed that whilst they will respect the outcome of the legal action, they were set to begin preparing the site for asylum seeker accommodation from April 6.

The plans to house asylum seekers at the site were announced by Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick at the end of March.

Braintree Council has said the site is “unsuitable”, given the “lack of capacity in local services”, its “isolated location” and that “the scale of the development proposed could have a significant impact upon the local community.”