Plans for Swindon to take young unaccompanied asylum seekers currently housed by Kent County Council have been put on hold for a month.

The council cabinet, which met last night, was split across party lines on the issue. Lead member for housing, Mavis Childs (Lab, Walcot), is to write to the Home Office saying the borough does not have the resources to cope with the influx.

But fellow Labour cabinet member Jim D'Avila (Lab, Moredon) said Swindon has a duty to take its fair share of asylum seekers.