Home Office refuses to rule out letting more Channel migrants land in Gosport despite furious protests

The Home Office has refused to rule out further Channel migrant landings in Gosport or Portsmouth despite furious local protests. Dinghies have crossed from Normandy three times in the past six weeks, with migrants brought ashore on two occasions in Hampshire - where they were met by hundreds of anti-migrant activists. After Hampshire Police racked up an £800,000 policing bill dealing with the unrest, Gosport Borough Council passed a motion calling for the town to be excluded from any future disembarkations. But the Home Office has refused to rule out the possibility, raising the prospect of a fresh local backlash. A spokesman insisted there were no plans to process migrants at Fort Blockhouse, a former military site in Gosport. Instead, arrivals will be taken to the main processing centre at Manston, near Dover, for security, ID and health checks. The spokesman said the Home Office had 'established contingency plans' to deal with small boat arrivals in Hampshire, but refused to comment further on 'operational processes or contingency plans'. 'Where circumstances permit, the Government will seek to engage relevant local authorities and operational partners in advance,' they said. 'The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.' Your browser does not support iframes. Police and demonstrators during an anti-migrant protest in Gosport Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones has complained to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood about the cost of dealing with regular anti-migrant protests and asked her to ensure landings in the local area 'do not become a regular occurrence'. Mrs Jones said she had received no response to an initial letter sent after the first incident on September 6, when hundreds of protesters blocked roads in Portsmouth in a bid to stop coaches carrying 140 migrants from Eastney Landing. Just over two weeks later, masked protesters descended on Gosport marina after reports that migrants were due to be brought ashore there. Tensions flared again on October 4 when 149 migrants were brought into the town aboard two RNLI lifeboats after a 70-mile journey from Normandy. Mrs Jones has sought details of discussions between the Home Secretary and the French interior minister, particularly over whether additional French resources will be deployed to prevent crossings along the increasingly used route from Normandy to Hampshire. The Tory politician said today: 'Gosport is not a safe location for the Home Office to land boats entering Britain illegally. 'Gosport is a peninsular, meaning the routes in and out are limited and easy to block. Join the discussion Should the Home Office publish more detail about its Hampshire contingency plans? What's your view? Your browser does not support iframes. 'If the Home Office continues to use Gosport, it's putting the public and police officers' safety at risk. 'It needs to find a new site, or better still, ensure French authorities prevent illegal crossings in the first place. 'My strong request of the Home Secretary is that she ensures UK Border Force have the correct vessels to transfer people on the water to Dover and not land any boats anywhere in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight.' Several people have been sentenced for their roles in the unrest. Del Somerville, 42, of Paulsgrove, was sentenced to two years in prison for violent disorder. Deano Ryan and Justin Dixon, 22 and 50 respectively, both received suspended sentences for the same charge. Shannon Dodds, 32, and Sally Pearson, 31, were also handed suspended sentences after admitting assaults on police officers. Alongside Fort Blockhouse, Gosport is also home to Haslar Immigration Removal Centre, which is undergoing a major expansion to accomodate 600 beds. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Seven jobs are being advertised at the centre as the Government presses ahead with plans to reopen and expand the facility despite fierce opposition. The roles, which are graded at executive officer level within the Civil Service, will involve working directly with detained migrants, providing updates on their immigration cases and monitoring their welfare. It marks another significant step towards reopening the former detention centre, which closed in 2015. Under the Home Office's proposals, the first phase of the development would create accommodation for 130 detainees, before a second phase increases capacity to 600 across three-storey accommodation blocks. The department's recruitment advert describes the jobs as an opportunity to make a difference to people being held in immigration detention. It states: 'This is a rewarding and varied role where no two days are the same. 'You will engage with people from diverse backgrounds, make a meaningful difference during a challenging period in their lives and develop valuable communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills within a supportive team environment.'