UKIP would fight for Bolton to opt out of existing dispersal arrangements for asylum seekers and their families.

Jeff Armstrong, the party’s candidate in Bolton South East, says he is unhappy at the borough taking the fifth highest number of asylum seekers receiving housing of any local authority in the UK.

He said: “While we accept that the Home Office has a duty to provide support and accommodation to eligible asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, we also feel that Bolton has already done more than its share.”

Latest figures showed that there were 1,054 asylum seekers living in Bolton in the first quarter of this year.

Mr Armstrong added: “Across the country, only about one in five local authorities have agreed to participate in the dispersal arrangements. We at UKIP Bolton feel it is time some of the councils without any asylum seekers in their area joined in and took their fair share.”