Security is ramping up around an army base that is set to house 600 male asylum seekers – as locals were told they would get ’48 hours’ notice’ before they move in. 

Residents are in revolt over the plans for Crowborough Army Training Camp in East Sussex, with thousands of people turning out every week for noisy protests. 

Today, guards with dogs were seen patrolling the site, where a secondary security fence has been erected alongside a series of residential huts. 

Kim Bailey who chairs the Crowborough Shield group, met with Alex Norris – Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum – on Wednesday.

Recalling the conversation, she told the Daily Mail: ‘We pushed him for seven to 14 days’ notice. And he refused and said, “more like 48 hours”.

‘When they start, we won’t know. They’ll just be shifting in the cover of darkness.’ 

Locals say they were given no warning of the plans to move the men in by January and only found out when it was leaked to a newspaper.

Campaigners still believe they can stop the plan and are raising money for a legal challenge.

‘The legal team are very good and they’re looking at every angle,’ Ms Bailey said.

‘Wealden District Council have to be assured by the Home Office that the site is safe, legal, and compliant. And, right now, the Home Office cannot evidence that.

‘Guards have been patrolling inside the camp fence for around a week,’ Ms Bailey said.  

‘I was challenged by them at the weekend.

‘I wasn’t on the premises. I was outside the fence and they were patrolling with the dogs and they just came up and said, “You okay? Can I help you?”

‘I said, “No, no. Just taking a walk”. He was a dog handler.’

The full security team at the camp is expected to be in place with the next week in preparation for the arrival of the first group of asylum seekers.

Locals are concerned about increased pressure on already inadequate public services and the impact the Home Office plan will have on house prices.

The Home Office said most primary healthcare will be delivered in the camp although the asylum seekers will be registered with local GPs.

Responding to health and safety concerns, the Home Office said they are obliged to ensure all systems at the site were safe, legal and compliant.

Organisers are appealing for 600 male volunteers to march through the town in numbered T-shirts during the third weekend of protests this Sunday.

Sussex Police said they have increased patrols in the town to reassure locals.

Chief Constable Jo Shiner said: ‘We’re increasing our reassurance patrols, there’s just more visibility in the town centre.’

The camp and barracks were previously used to accommodate Afghan families evacuated during the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 before they were resettled elsewhere.

The site has a proud history going back to the war, when it was used by Canadian forces preparing for D-Day.

A separate plan to house migrants at a base in Inverness has also sparked a backlash. 

Hundreds took to the streets in the Highland city on Saturday to voice their concerns at the proposal to house more than 300 male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks in the city centre.

War heroes and pensioners joined parents and children making their views of the unwelcome move – which will see a historic veteran’s association turfed out of the complex – known.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has sought to project a tougher stance on illegal migration by unveiling a slate of reforms aimed at making Britain less attractive. 

A new package will see illegal migrants who bring successful human rights claims to dodge deportation forced to wait 30 years to secure permanent leave to stay.

Sources said this penalty would apply to failed asylum seekers who made a successful legal challenge under the ‘right to family life’ Article 8 provisions in the European Convention on Human Rights, for example.

Most migrants currently qualify for ILR after spending five years legally in the UK, but the new baseline will double to ten years.