£6.6 BILLION! COST OF 'ASYLUM SEEKER SUPPORT' REVEALED

EXPRESS SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Tennis lessons and zoo trips among 'bonkers' schemes

- By Lotti O'Brien

TAXPAYERS shelled out £6.6billion on asylum seeker and refugee support schemes - including trips to the zoo and tennis lessons, an Express investigation has revealed.

Sandwich deliveries, friendship services and even a visit to Sir Keir Starmer's beloved Arsenal stadium were also among the programmes to help them "integrate" into British life. The eye-watering cost was racked up in 200 government and local council-funded schemes over the past five years.

Critics have slammed the "bonkers" expenditure and said much of the money should have been spent on improving public services and communities instead. But the Refugee Council insisted that cutting them would leave refugees isolated, communities divided and the taxpayer poorer.

A dossier handed to this newspaper by Reform UK has lifted the lid on the sheer scale and cost of the support schemes.

One contract detailed the “self-sufficient” Wethersfield Asylum Accommodation site, near Braintree, in Essex, where arrivals were greeted with £20,620 worth of sports coaches and equipment for activities such as volleyball, tennis and athletics, four times a day, three days a week.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of pounds has been dedicated to “befriending schemes” where asylum seekers and refugees were allocated a “mentor”. Upon arrival in Bristol, Hull and the London borough of Newham, a befriender will be provided to each adult with the aim of promoting confidence building.

Organised group activities have included trips to London Zoo, Kew Gardens and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Other contracts included sandwich delivery services worth almost £50,000.

The value of each lunch was £4.45 with options including chicken, egg and mayo, with veggie and vegan selections too.

These were supplied weekly for refugees in both the Croydon and Kent Intake Units.