'INHUMANE' ASYLUM BARGE TO BE CLOSED

Labour pull the plug on Conservatives' controversial Bibby Stockholm facility

- DAVE BURKE

THE Bibby Stockholm asylum barge will be shut down in January after months of concern for its residents.

Ministers confirmed the contract for the three-storey vessel, which houses around 400 people, will not be renewed.

It costs more than £40,000 a day just to lease, and the Home Office said it would have to pay over £20million to continue using it next year.

Campaigners have welcomed the closure of the "inhumane" barge docked in Portland Port in Dorset but called for people to be moved immediately.