An immigration removal centre which will house some 600 asylum seekers is set to open later this year.

Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) will be brought back into use later this year after it was closed in 2015.

The site on Dolphin Way, in Gosport, will be used to detain men who are failed asylum seekers and foreign nationals convicted of a crime set to be deported.

In September last year, a planning application submitted on behalf of the Home Office sought permission to knock down two of the buildings said to be in ‘in poor condition and no longer fit for purpose’.

It comes as the government department has invested in removal centres amid ‘an unprecedented rise in small boat crossings’.

Planning documents said the building was being refurbished so that it is fit for purpose when it reopens as an IRC.

READ MORE: Demolition set to pave way for immigration removal centre

'Building was rotting away at public expense'

Gosport Conservative MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage, visited the site in December to see the redevelopment of the site, which saw delays after asbestos was found.

She said she was tired of seeing the site “rotting away at public expense”.

She met with illegal immigration minister, Michael Tomlinson, to discuss the latest stage of the works.

The MP also working to host another opportunity for residents to meet Home Office staff and contractors involved in the works after a similar event in January last year saw 200 people turn up.

She said: “I am grateful to the Minister for his interest in IRC Haslar and commitment to keeping local people informed.

“Like many residents, while I would rather it was sold and used for a different purpose, I am tired of the site rotting away at public expense.

“The refurbishment is high quality and I now look forward to the planned reopening at the end of this year and the 200 jobs it will bring to our peninsula”