BOLTON is among the top 10 towns and cities in the country with the most asylum seekers, according to new Home Office figures.

The data shows that in the second quarter of the year there were 755 asylum seekers living in the borough — 78 more than in the same period last year.

The number has risen each year for Bolton, with 556 people seeking asylum in the borough in 2011.

Bolton’s figures are similar to Manchester, which currently has 779 asylum seekers living in the area, but much higher than Bury, with 306.

Bolton West MP Julie Hilling said that it was important that communities like Bolton did not “turn their backs on extremely vulnerable people”.

She added: “These people can be coming from the most horrendous and traumatic backgrounds and it is good that we can offer them a place that is far away from such hardship.

“I do understand people in Bolton have concerns about immigration but these are people who are literally fleeing for their lives and as a civil society and a fantastic community we need to be able to offer them refuge.”

Housing for asylum seekers — people who are in the process of applying to be recognised as having fled persecution in their countries — is provided by international service company Serco in Bolton.

Refugee Action, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers and helps them to build new lives in the UK, said current conditions for asylum seekers were tough.

Cheif executive Dave Garratt said: “The Home Office can take years to decide on their asylum claim, meanwhile they are usually dispersed into private accommodation with no choice over where they live.

“The vast majority are not allowed to work and are forced to live on as little as £5.23 a day.

"Refugee Action is campaigning to increase the level of asylum support in the UK.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The United Kingdom has a long and proud history of offering sanctuary to those who genuinely need it.

“Asylum seekers are housed according to their individual needs and where there is available and appropriate accommodation.

“We review this regularly, working closely with local authorities to ensure the system is fair for asylum seekers and for taxpayers across the country.”

Serco was awarded the contract for the private housing of asylum seekers by the Home Office in 2012, meaning they do not go into council homes.