Church leaders and medical staff are working together to offer emotional and physical support to refugees being housed temporarily in a city hotel.

Members of Bowthorpe Church, in Bowthorpe Hall Road, and Bowthorpe Health Centre, in Wendene, are supporting people staying at the Best Western Brook Hotel in Barnard Road, Bowthorpe, which closed on September 28 last year to the public, according to Costessey Town Council member Gary Blundell.

Norwich Evening News: The Best Western Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe when it shut to the general public in September 2022 to take in refugees, by order of the Home Office.The Best Western Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe when it shut to the general public in September 2022 to take in refugees, by order of the Home Office. (Image: Newsquest)

The Brook Hotel was one of two in Norwich chosen by the Home Office to be a temporary home to people seeking asylum and has around 80 bedrooms with a capacity for 172. 

The other hotel being used for this purpose is the Holiday Inn Express in Drayton High Road, Hellesdon, which has capacity for 176 people.

Mr Blundell added support was being offered after initial concerns and reports from the community about anti-social behaviour or fears of anti-social behaviour since the hotel changed its use.

It comes as a Freedom of Information request revealed that between September 28 last year and January 17, Norfolk Police was called out to the hotel on 15 separate occasions.

Between the same period, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust answered 18 emergency calls and eight were dealt with through a face-to-face response.

Norwich Evening News: Gary Blundell, a member of Costessey Town Council, who lives in the neighbouring ward to Bowthorpe.Gary Blundell, a member of Costessey Town Council, who lives in the neighbouring ward to Bowthorpe. (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Blundell said: "The people were put into the hotel quickly and it has taken time for things to move forward. It does seem to have calmed down, which is nice."

He added emergency services would have been contacted for different issues and the church and GP surgery were offering clothes and mental health support, among other things.

The councillor believed the UK should be taking in people from different cultures but felt putting them in hotels was "stupid".

He said a more rounded approach to social housing should be established to support refugees and anyone in the UK struggling with housing.