HUNDREDS of asylum seekers are to be locked out of their homes in a shock move officials fear will cause a humanitarian crisis on Scotland’s streets.

A private firm housing thousands of refugees in Glasgow says it will start evicting up to 300 people who have been told they cannot stay in Britain.

Serco will issue a first six “lock change” notices today (Monday) giving residents a week to get out with nowhere else to go.

Distraught council officials in Glasgow said they had been given no meaningful warning about a change that could leave large numbers of people on the city’s streets with no means of survival.

The council is barred from housing failed asylum seekers and charities who are legally allowed to do so simply lack the capacity to put so many people up.

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Serco houses some 5000 people in Glasgow under a Home Office dispersal scheme begun two decades ago.

Jennifer Layden, who speaks for Glasgow City Council on equalities and human rights, said: “We have been completely blind-sided by this sudden announcement which will potentially leave many people destitute in the city.

“It is clear from their correspondence that Serco plans to start this policy without proper consultation or engagement.

“The council is legally prevented from providing accommodation for people with No Leave to Remain and No Recourse to Public Funds.

“The city’s voluntary sector is completely unprepared for a sudden surge in people needing accommodation. This is an appalling situation for all affected.”

Serco wrote to charities and local authorities on Friday morning announcing the new lock-out change and suggesting it came after a lengthy period of ‘working closely” with the council.

Asked by the Evening Times' sister title The Herald, Serco on Sunday said this close work included the new policy. Glasgow City Council disputes the accuracy of this claim.

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Ms Layden, an SNP councillor, said she had had a meeting with Serco officials on ways to help the most vulnerable failed asylum seekers, such as those who are sick or disabled. But she added: “During this meeting, there was no mention by Serco of lock changes and I’m deeply disappointed that they have chosen to take this approach while we were having constructive discussions in other areas.”

The official who manages Serco’s Glasgow refugee housing project, Jenni Halliday, said: “We have been paying for the rent, the rates, the heating and lighting, and insurance on their properties, in many cases for many months all at our own expense.

"Each of these former Asylum Seekers have been refused the right to stay in the UK by the Government and the Home Office does not fund Serco to provide them with accommodation.”

She added: “Whilst we are sympathetic to their plight, we believe we have been more than supportive of these individuals by providing them with an additional period of housing in which to make alternative arrangements but we cannot continue to provide free housing indefinitely.

"As they no longer have any right to continue to live in the property we provide. We have therefore started legal proceedings to repossess our properties.”

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Owen Fenn, of Govan Community Project, said: “Three hundred people with no recourse to public funds will be made street homeless in the coming weeks. This is a brewing humanitarian crisis for Glasgow.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with free, fully furnished accommodation while applications are considered.

“However it is right that we prepare for someone’s removal if they do not have a lawful basis to stay in the UK and they are not pursuing an appeal.”