A GOVERNMENT U-turn could mean hundreds of asylum seekers could drift into Blackpool "through the back door" and become a drain on local authorities, says the council leader.

Coun George Bancroft spoke to The Citizen this week as the resort backed out of the North West consortium refugee scheme which provided official support for those seeking refuge in towns across Britain from war-torn countries.

"The Government has changed the financial rules and withdrawn the promised support service and without it we just cannot carry on. And also we didn't feel that every authority in the North West consortium was paying their fair share of the costs involved and Blackpool was ending up having to pay out a tidy sum.

"It has to be said that so far there hasn't been the great influx of refugees that were first imagined. And Blackpool has not become the dumping ground that many first thought it would. A lot of people arrived and then moved on fairly quickly. In fact, there has only been about 100 or so at any one time in the resort.

"But the one worry now is that outside agencies will continue to be used and many will arrive without us knowing about it and may be placed in inadequate facilities. We want to make sure they are in the proper accommodation and that sort of thing."