WITH historic timber-framed houses and tree-lined avenues, Allesley wouldn’t look out of place on the front of a postcard.
But despairing residents in this quaint Coventry suburb fear they are being “forgotten” as the city’s resources are stretched to breaking point in the face of an unprecedented influx of immigration .
Over recent years, three hotels at either end of the leafy West Midlands village have been taken to house asylum seekers.
While residents express sympathy for those in need, many also feel as if their concerns – in particular around crime and the sheer number of arrivals – are being brushed under the carpet.
It is a snapshot of an city-wide issue that has not just concerned residents but the council, who last November wrote to the Home Office to threaten legal action over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
“I think it’s terrible what’s happened to this village,” says Jane Ascroft, 54, a recovering cancer patient who was brought up in Allesley.
“We had a lovely hotel, the Allesley, where people would get married and go for special occasions but that has just gone.
“It was filled up with newly-arrived immigrants… and now it is just a burnt-out wreck of a place.”
The now-derelict hotel, part of which dates back to the early 1800s, once proudly stood in the middle of the village before closing in 2022.
However, two huge fires, believed to have been started deliberately, left the building “beyond repair” and the site is now earmarked for development.
“I don’t understand why Coventry has taken so many in – but I know that the hotel owners have done very nicely out of it,” Jane added.
The pace of change in Coventry has been rapid, with a report this month revealing that more than one in 25 of the city’s residents are immigrants who have arrived from abroad in the last year alone.
In Allesley, locals say their tolerance for different cultures has been used against them as their hotels are “singled out” to house asylum seekers.
“It has totally changed this village,” said IT specialist Dean O’Driscoll, 38.
“At certain points there have been up to 300 people walking down the road at a time from the Coventry Hill Hotel.”
Located at the opposite end of the village, the hotel, run by the Britannia group , closed to paying guests in 2020 and from then on has only housed asylum seekers.
Far-right protesters targeted it that same year, and in April 2025 the Home Office announced it intended to remove asylum seekers from the hotel.
Crime fears
Residents like Dean fear a drain on local resources has let crime go unchecked, with figures released by West Midlands Police last November showing a 44 per cent rise in recorded shoplifting and retail crime in Coventry year-on-year.
Dean added: “The local shop says there has been more theft and crime in the last couple of years than in the previous 20.
“I live on a farm, and have had groups of people coming down trying to steal the electric fence battery.
“In these hotels on the outskirts, it is mostly adult men. The old people are terrified, and people don’t like parking their cars on the street.
“Clearly a lot of these people are desperate, but I don’t understand why Coventry gets singled out.
“I just think we’re forgotten, we don’t have a voice – and we are tolerant people so they expect us to put up with it.”
‘Taking liberties’
Faith Mills, 64, who was born in South London, has lived in the city for nine years and is concerned that taxpayers are footing the bill for the asylum seekers being housed in local hotels.
She said: “It has changed this area. I don’t like seeing them paying for things with special Home Office cards .
“I blame the politicians, and I blame the people who own the hotels. They want them here, and are making a lot of money out of every refugee.”
Venting her frustration, Faith added: “We are paying money to France, who are not interested in helping – and why should they?
“All this money is spent by our government, but it’s going to people who are taking liberties.”
Another mother, 31, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s hard, because you can’t help but worry about your children.
“You keep hearing things about the threat to women and children, so I worry about my own safety.”
City under strain
Coventry City Council’s letter last November came shortly after the Government reserved a hotel to use as short-term accommodation for asylum seekers with only 48 hours notice and no prior consultation.
The letter, signed by the council’s Labour leader George Duggins and Naeem Akhtar, the cabinet member for housing and communities, described the situation as “completely unacceptable.”
It also urged the Home Office to “halt any further increases of such placements in Coventry”.
Written evidence since submitted by the city council to Parliament has further laid bare the strain caused by the increase in asylum seekers staying in Coventry.
The cost of housing has surged, with private rents increasing by 19.5 per cent between 2023 and 2024 – the second highest in England.
Schools and healthcare services are said to be overstretched and struggling to deal with problems like language barriers, while it was also noted that the hotels had increased demand on policing.
Many locals say they have been left dismayed at what seem to be the Government’s priorities.
There is not enough kindness in the world and as long as they are contributing then there’s no problem…but this country is in a mess
Carol Williams
“If I was fleeing war then I would do whatever I could to help my family,” said 78-year-old Carol Williams.
“There is not enough kindness in the world and as long as they are contributing then there’s no problem. But this country is in a mess. My daughter is in her 40s and she is in unstable privately rented accommodation.
“There is no chance of her getting on a council housing list and no chance of getting on the property ladder.
“So I do think we ought to be looking after our own and successive Governments have just let the situation get worse.
Politicians shamed
Air stewardess Anna Brown, 67, also feared that the country’s resources were being stretched too far.
She said: “For months, I would see lots of African people walking through the village from the hotels.
“I never felt intimidated, they are just people who talk among themselves and a lot of them do shifts at the Amazon warehouse.
“I have no idea why Coventry takes so many, but the country is really struggling to cope.
“I lost my brother recently, he had bi-polar, and the care he received did get worse. The sense is that our resources are being drained. I hear friends say they can’t get a doctor’s appointment .
Like others, Anna has found herself giving up on politicians because of the situation.
I am someone who has always voted Labour but not anymore, I don’t bother to vote now
Anna Brown
She said: “I think we are just too soft letting them in. I am someone who has always voted Labour but not anymore, I don’t bother to vote now.
“They are giving us less and less, pushing the retirement age up and up and because they can’t get a grip of this immigration it gets blamed on that and the country becomes more divided. It is just really sad.”
Tensions flare
These divisions came to a head this summer as anti-asylum protests swept through towns and cities across the country.
One of the largest demonstrations happened in Nuneaton , only a ten minute drive outside of Coventry.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the town hall last Saturday after two men, reportedly Afghan asylum seekers, were arrested and charged in relation to the rape of a 12-year-old girl .
Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, was charged with rape, whilst Mohammad Kabir, 23, was charged with kidnap, strangulation, and aiding and abbetting rape of a girl under 13.
Back in Coventry, locals expressed further concerns about what was happening to their area.
“ What has happened to Coventry is not good at all. This went from being a nice area to a place where you see drug dealing,” said 21-year-old concrete pumper Jack Vaughan.
“It is worse for women. They are more on edge. People are getting way more wary and getting house alarms.
“This country is draining money rather than re-investing in communities.
“Just when we need it most, there is less money for police, less for youth services.”
Patience tested
Sue, 64, is a former city council worker living in the village and has found herself torn.
“I used to help run creches for children of recently arrived people – teaching them about British values and helping them to settle in.
“The people I worked with were always polite, and some of the stories I heard about – where they had come from and what they had been through – meant I really felt sympathy for them.
“It is not easy coming to a new country. None of us would choose it – but legal or illegal, this country has a lot of extra people coming in, and we are struggling with resources.”
Retired lecturer Anthony Hoyle, 73, also found himself divided.
He said: “I am really in two minds about it. People deserve somewhere to live and most of those coming to Britain have some family over here.
“I am not hostile to them at all and I think housing people should be a priority, we don’t want people on the street.
“I have no faith that this government will change anything. I am not impressed with politics. To me, they are all equally stupid.”
Matthias, 55, a former mental health worker, feels it is time for the Government to come down harder on immigrants who break the law.
They said: “I think we should be following what Poland and Australia have done. They have zero tolerance for illegal immigrants.
“If people want to come through legal means, I have no problem with that but when they come with criminal intent it changes the atmosphere of the country and the status quo.
“This is not the world I was brought up in. We had immigration but the people worked hard and did not rely on anyone but themselves. That has changed and I don’t trust any politician to do anything about it .”
Now-retired car industry worker Steve, who lives in Allesley, was less gloomy about the effect asylum seekers had had on the village, though still lacked any confidence in the Government.
He said: “It doesn’t bother me as long as they keep themselves to themselves and to be honest they seem harmless enough.
“I can’t see any politicians making a difference. They are trying to send them back but they just need to stop them coming in the first place.”
