ASYLUM seekers in Bolton and volunteers involved in helping them are facing a rising tide of hostility.

Those involved in assisting some of the 1,100 asylum seekers housed in the town are concerned at an upsurge in verbal abuse which they believe has been caused by negative reports in sections of the national press.

There are fears that potential volunteers could now be deterred from coming forward. Ray Collett, chairman of BRASS (Befriending Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which runs a drop-in centre, said he was worried about the climate those involved in the issue were experiencing.

He said: "There has been an increase in hostility and it is not the fault of the people of Bolton. It is sections of the right-wing papers which have been really going to town on asylum seekers.

"We are disappointed because Bolton has such a good reputation for welcoming people from other countries.

"I am not aware with BRASS of any of our volunteers leaving because of the hostility they have received. They have been brilliant but I don't know if it puts anyone else off volunteering."

The Rev Phil Mason, of Victoria Hall Methodist Mission, which works in partnership with BRASS, said: "There has been abuse directed both towards some of the asylum seekers and towards volunteers because they are trying to help people, which some elements of the community don't think is appropriate.

"In Bolton I think we are working hard in positive ways and on the whole people are very supportive, but there is a small minority who are hostile."

Dr Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton South east, said: "I am concerned if asylum seekers and volunteers are experiencing abuse.

"Many of these people have been attacked in their own countries and the last thing they want is to be attacked here. People need to consider the situations these people have fled from. I have seen asylum seekers who have horrendous wounds and have some terrifying and traumatic stories."

Peter Sloan, co-ordinator of Bolton Volunteer Bureau, which has also been involved in helping asylum seekers, told the Bolton Evening News last week that he had also encountered hostility towards would-be refugees.

He said: "I know one asylum seeker who had seen his brother killed, his sister tortured and feared for his own life.

"He said while it was terrible in his country, some of the hostility he had encountered here was almost as bad."

At one point when the bureau advertised for recruits to help support asylum seekers, three out of four calls they received in response were abusive.

The largest number of asylum seekers in Bolton are Iraqi Kurds fleeing persecution in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The next biggest groups are from turmoil-hit African countries such as Sierre Leone and the Congo.