A SECRET Deliveroo and Uber Eats takeaway kitchen in a taxpayer-funded asylum hotel was exposed when two workers filmed themselves going inside.
Footage showed fast-food orders being prepared on the premises, which houses hundreds of asylum seekers.
A pop-up kitchen at the taxpayer-funded asylum hotel Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield, West Yorks, has been exposed[/caption]
A sign on the door of the premises, which is closed to the public, states ‘Uber Eats, Deliveroo Collection Point’[/caption]
The kitchen at the asylum hotel was being sub-let to fast food businesses Big Boi Burgers and Absurd Stacks[/caption]
Home Office officials confirmed to The Sun it was a “misuse” of asylum accommodation — whose bosses have been paid millions to house migrants.
An investigation was last night under way to assess if the pop-up kitchen at the Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield, West Yorks, was illegal under the terms of a contract signed between the Government and bosses of EC4 Hotel Ltd, the firm behind the accommodation.
The probe will establish if EC4 broke the law by sub-letting the kitchen in recent months to fast food businesses Big Boi Burgers and Absurd Stacks.
‘Scared to speak up’
Wakefield Council, which gave the businesses a license to operate, also launched an investigation.
EC4, which has three other hotels, is run by Monaco-based Nadja Kovic Nassar, 66, and had a turnover of nearly £18million in 2024.
The Home Office spends £5million a day on contracts with Clearsprings, Mears Group and Serco to provide them with asylum accommodation.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, admitted last month that the controls the Government has over the contracts and their subcontractors were “quite weak”.
The Cedar Court hotel is part of the deal with Mears Group — which is set to get £2.5billion of taxpayers’ money over ten years, from 2019 to 2029.
The row broke out after two men filmed themselves walking into the Cedar Court kitchen to show it was being used to cook grub for fast food customers.
Footage showed a sign on the door of the premises, which is closed to the public, which stated: “Uber Eats, Deliveroo Collection Point”.
Security officials swiftly moved the local duo off the premises and called police to the scene.
In 2023 the Home Office announced plans to increase the number of asylum seeker spaces at Cedar Court from 148 to 306. Last night the hotel was on lockdown with security guarding the entrance — telling visitors it was private property.
A number of migrants were seen in the grounds seeking shade beneath a gazebo at the rear. A small five-a-side football goal was set up on the grass nearby.
One staff member arriving for work refused to comment but said the hotel was closed and had been for five years to accommodate the migrants.
A distraught neighbour said: “There are comings and goings at all times of the day. Most of them staying here are working. They go to the bus stop and get picked up from the lay-by early in the morning.
“I’ve no idea what they’re doing but they are working. They’re all on bikes, coming and going.
“I can’t tell you how distressing it is. They hang around in large groups and I’m scared to go out.
“I was shocked to see the Deliveroo sign at the back but not surprised.
“The Government is putting these people in small rural residential areas without a care for the people who live here.
“We’ve spoken to the police repeatedly but they’re just not interested. We’re scared to speak up because we fear reprisals.”
There are comings and goings at all times of the day. Most of them staying here are working
Distraught neighbour
In May a report said three firms who turned their hotels into migrant hubs — Clearsprings, Mears and Serco — had made combined profits of £383million since 2019 after the expected costs of housing asylum seekers tripled.
Appearing before a parliamentary committee, Clearsprings and Mears said they would pay money back. Serco said they had not made enough profit to do so.
When the taxpayer-funded contracts were signed in 2019, the vast majority of people were housed in accommodation within communities. Around a third are now housed in hotels, which come at a far greater expense to the public finances.
The Home Office last night confirmed that the takeaway kitchen operating in the Cedar Court Hotel was “immediately” closed.
A Home Office spokesperson told The Sun: “This activity is wholly unacceptable.
“Immediate action has been taken to ensure the service is no longer operating at the site and we are in close contact with the provider.
Cops in stab vests
A migrant in a Just eat delivery outfit pictured on his bike outside the Thistle City Barbican hotel, London[/caption]
“They have said residents at the hotel were not involved.
“We take all allegations of misuse of asylum accommodation and the safety of residents extremely seriously. We will now be investigating.”
Earlier this week the government called in bosses of Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat to demand urgent action to prevent immigration- offending on their platforms.
It came after The Sun revealed how asylum seekers were suspected of earning from Just Eat and Deliveroo takeaway drops while claiming taxpayer handouts.
Immediate action has been taken to ensure the service is no longer operating at the site and we are in close contact with the provider
Home Office
The delivery firms agreed to increase the use of facial verification checks and fraud detection technology to help ensure only registered account holders can work off their platforms.
Bosses were read the riot act at the precise moment on Tuesday as Immigration Enforcement made their first swoop outside the Thistle City Barbican hotel in London.
More than 20 cops in stab vests scrambled from unmarked cars to pounce on migrants returning from shifts.
Officers confronted at least ten men, two seen with delivery-branded food bags on bikes. The Sun approached Cedar Court Hotels, Mears Group and Wakefield Council for comment.
Last night fast food firms Big Boi Burgers and Absurd Stacks had been shut down.
A Deliveroo spokesperson told The Sun: “Virtual brands like Absurd Stacks are fully registered food businesses, offering a delivery-only restaurant service.
“After being made aware of the potential relationship between the hotel group running the virtual brand and the Home Office, we suspended them from our platform while we investigate further.”
An Uber Eats spokesperson said: “We have suspended this restaurant’s access to our platform and are fully investigating.”
