Bibby Stockholm: Asylum seeker barge’s impact on Portland in Dorset

Business owner Kirsty Garbett, who has lived on Portland for 15 years, was concerned about the barge when it first arrived.

“I wasn’t very keen about it like most residents on the island. Mainly I’ve got twin girls and they were 14 when the barge came.

“Then I was slightly concerned of the aspect of having lots of men from different religions being in the area obviously and just the lack of facilities for the locals as it is let alone having 500 extra people on the island.”

She also said poor communication from the government left people worried about what would happen when the asylum seekers arrived.

But in the end, she admitted it “didn’t actually turn out to be as bad as what people thought it was going to be”.

“You didn’t really see them that much. They did get their own buses and so there was a lot of them going to Weymouth. They had their own facilities down there.”