Campaigners have urged the UK Government to bring an "immediate end" to hotel accommodation for asylum seekers, with fears many could be forced into homelessness amid the housing crisis.

Labour has pledged to end the practice of housing refugees in hotels, but with a huge backlog of cases it's reported that they are planning to re-open some facilities previously closed by the Conservative government.

Asylum seekers could spend up to three years in hotels while they wait for their claims to be processed, which in places like Glasgow could exacerbate issues with homelessness and rough sleeping.

Gary Christie, head of policy, communications and communities at the Scottish Refugee Council, told The Scotsman: “We want to see an immediate end to the use of hotel rooms and other types of temporary accommodation used for long-term housing.

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"The idea of living in a hotel and the reality for people seeking asylum are worlds apart. Living on £1.36 a day and stripped of basic autonomy, like being able to choose what to eat for dinner or cook yourself a meal, we see first-hand how adverse an effect this type of accommodation has on people’s mental health.

“Isolated, banned from working and living in poverty, hotel living risks re-traumatising people who have already uprooted their lives to flee violence and persecution. People need a safe, secure place to call home where they can recover from these experiences and begin to rebuild their lives. This is not something a hotel room can provide.”

The Refugee Council estimates the number of asylum applications waiting to be determined could stand at 118,063 in January now Labour has scrapped plans to send migrants to Rwanda and started processing claims again.

Analysis of official data, based on grant rates in the year to June, indicates as many as 62,801 more people could be recognised as refugees in the UK, according to the migrant charity.

The charity based its findings on the grant rates used in the 12 months leading up to the election and looked at how that was applied to asylum seekers of different nationalities to reach their conclusions and a “working assumption” of what the figure could be.

It also noted how the estimations were similar to the number of people granted refugee status in the year to June under the previous government.

Susain Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council said: "We have not been approached by the Home Office with information on whether any more asylum hotels will open in Glasgow.

“Whilst Glasgow has been greatly enriched by its role as a dispersal city over the past two decades, it is undeniable that the way in which the Home Office is now batch processing decisions followed by large scale evictions from asylum accommodation is a significant driver of a high number of refugees seeking support from homelessness services – and the city still is not receiving funding from the Home Office to support this.

“We remain willing to work with the Home Office to find a different way to process asylum claims which makes decisions quickly, limits the use of hotels, and enables asylum seekers to work.”