IT is not a situation we would have wished on our town.

Accommodating 200 asylum seekers must inevitably have an impact on services.

But the council seem to be handling the matter well and have said the impact of the influx of these people will be kept to a minimum.

The asylum seekers will be housed in empty council properties, in areas where are are spare school and GP places.

That makes excellent sense and is preferable to the earlier situation when the Government was housing asylum seekers directly through private landlords.

That made it difficult for councils to plan and ensure accommodation was of an acceptable standard. Now, no more private places will be allocated.

Jon Lord, council advice and access manager, believes the presence of the asylum seekers should cause minimal disruption to services.

For everyone's sake, we hope he is right.