Labour is moving asylum seekers out of hotels and into the “suburbs and shires”, new analysis has revealed. There are now 68,719 asylum seekers living in houses, flats and bedsits – including large HMOs – in communities across the country. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has vowed to close every asylum seeker hotel by the next General Election. But the growing numbers in ‘dispersal accommodation’ will anger the public even more, ministers were told, due to a lack of infrastructure.

Tory Party shadow policy minister Neil O’Brien said: “Rather like blowing on a dandelion, the Home Office are dispersing people all over the country. The government hopes this will make the problem less visible. I think there is every chance that it will backfire, as people are left high and dry in the villages and town suburbs where there is very little social infrastructure to connect to and few people in a similar situation.”

Mr O’Brien said: “In certain ways it will make the challenges more noticeable to many people.”

“So, for all of the government’s boasting about shutting hotels, for most people in most areas, the experience is of an increase in asylum seekers being housed locally.”

The true number of migrants being supported by taxpayers could be even higher than the headline figures suggest.

Separate Government figures also show almost 40,000 Afghans are living in taxpayer-funded accommodation, the majority of whom arrived in the UK after being evacuated following the Taliban takeover.

Some 265 council areas are now housing more asylum seekers, analysis by Mr O’Brien revealed.

Britain’s asylum crisis was laid bare as 93,525 sought sanctuary in the UK last year, down from 106,130 in the previous 12 months.

An alarming 38,980 people applied after crossing the Channel on a dinghy, while 36,711 claimed refuge after arriving on a study, work or visitor visa.

Of this group, 10,835 held a study visa, 13,994 arrived on a work visa, 7,048 used a visitor visa and 4,834 held other forms of leave.

One in 10 asylum seekers was from Pakistan, with 9,438 in total. Most sought protection after arriving on a visa. Eritreans, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese and Somalis have accounted for the biggest cohorts of small boat migrants so far this year.

Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “Nearly 100,000 people are now in asylum accommodation, and Labour’s answer is to move them out of hotels hide them in residential streets.

“Labour should be deporting all illegal immigrants, but they simply don’t have the backbone to do. Many of the 93% that are allowed to stay by this Government go on to commit serious crimes, including murder, rape, and the sexual assault of young girls. This situation is a disgrace.”

It comes after it emerged a military camp temporarily housing asylum seekers could stay open until 2030, a “dismayed” local council has said.

Wealden District Council said it had seen court papers showing Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex will have the option to remain open well beyond the 12 months originally planned.

The site could accommodate up to 500 adult male migrants while their claims for asylum in the UK are being processed, the first of whom moved in at the start of the year.