Cllr Alec Brown, Leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “We have received no communication from the Government that people seeking asylum are to be housed on floating vessels on the River Tees.
“Responsibility for asylum seekers sits with the Home Office, but we would expect to be informed of any plans which involved our borough and we are currently seeking clarity following today’s report in the media.
“I am totally against the principal of housing people seeking asylum in this way – it is something more akin to Victorian times and as a society, we should have a more humane way of treating people while their asylum claims are assessed by the Home Office.”