A minister has admitted conditions at a migrant processing centre are ‘poor’ after the government was told to ‘get a grip’ of the situation by the watchdog.
Children are being forced to sleep on floor mats and there are reports of outbreaks of disease at the Manston centre.
The temporary holding site in Kent is at the centre of growing scrutiny over the government’s handling of the situation on the south coast.
Around one tenth of the more than 40,000 people who have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year are being housed at Manston.
There are at least 1,000 too many people there, the official inspector warned, and young children are among those being confined in cramped accommodation with limited outdoor space.