A former care home in a built-up residential area is being lined up to house unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

KentOnline can reveal The Limes in Brent Lane, Dartford, will temporarily home the minors until they can be moved elsewhere in the country.

The former care home is expected to welcome the first set of young people alongside social workers in the “coming months”.

But while homeowners are sympathetic to their needs they have hit out at Kent County Council (KCC) over the lack of consultation over the plans.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson has also slammed the proposal, describing the area as “totally unsuitable”.

The Tory backbencher said: “I have informed the leader of KCC that the Limes is totally unsuitable for this kind of usage due to the residential nature of its location.

“I have also met with the Immigration Minister twice to express this view. Ultimately, the decision is one for KCC and I hope, even at this late stage, they change their position.”

The Limes care home was closed in August 2011 but fencing was spotted going up last week.

After the care home shut it was used as a pupil referral unit for ‘troubled’ children, and then most recently as a base for different police forces to train dogs.

Alison Pereira and her husband Josh have lived nearby for the past five years. They and their neighbours are unhappy with the lack of communication from the council.

Father-of-two Josh said the site has been closed since they moved in.

The operations worker noticed a big fence had been erected around it and work being done so checked the council’s website for any planned work but couldn’t find anything.

After a neighbour got in touch with their MP it was revealed the site would be taking in young asylum seekers.

Josh, 34, added: “We’re a bit concerned as nobody mentioned it to us. There’s been no meetings with any residents and they’ve started the work. There are a lot of schools around the area and children’s parks.

“I’m fearful in terms of what the process is and how much freedom they’ve got. We’ve got really young children and we’ve read in the media that the past properties have been encroached and there’s been a lot of things about people having false birth certificates.”

Despite this Josh says him and his wife are not against it, but felt they should have been consulted and given confidence there is a “process in place and controls are there” so as to ensure families feel “protected from harm”.

Another neighbour, who lives in Brent Lane and didn’t want to be named, said he saw building works had started but assumed they were making repairs.

He added: “I would not be too fussed if it is used to house asylum seeker children. If they are cared for, it is not an issue for me.

“I am more sympathetic with them, it is not the children’s fault they are here. As long as it is safe and they are cared for, I do not mind.”

But his 75-year-old neighbour was furious over the lack of community engagement.

“It is disgusting that KCC has not told us,” he said. “It is happening and they are coming into our community, what can you do about it?

“We will have to wait and see what happens but it would have been nice to have been informed.”

Another resident, 50, added: “We do not know if there will be any trouble or if it will be peaceful because we have not been told anything.

“KCC could have at least given us an opportunity to discuss it. I want to help people but we need more details.

Should they be helped? Absolutely but it is about being consulted

“Should they be helped? Absolutely but it is about being consulted. It is all about communication. We need more details. I think it is unacceptable that we have not been given a view on this.

“I am very much in favour of helping people and the majority of the road are too but we just want to know what is happening. I just hope the people who need help, get help.”

In July the High Court ruled KCC must take “every possible step” to increase its capacity to accommodate and look after all unaccompanied asylum-seeking Children arriving in Kent despite pleas it cannot cope with demand.

It must do so in order to fully comply with its statutory duty under the Children Act 1989 and end the “unlawful use of hotels” managed by the Home Office.

Currently, the council’s two existing reception centres provide temporary accommodation and care for such children while they await transfer to other local authorities under the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).

KCC Leader Roger Gough (Con) said: “New arrivals of unaccompanied asylum seeking children into KCC care dramatically increased following the ruling and, although the council has continued to work hard to accommodate them safely, the existing provision is unable to sustainably cope with demand and additional, suitable temporary accommodation is needed at pace to meet the requirements of the High Court ruling and to ensure the ongoing safe care of children.

“As required by the court, KCC has been working closely with the Home Office on the provision of appropriate levels of accommodation to meet the required anticipated need.

“As part of this, in addition to the current provision and other accommodation discussions which continue, work is commencing at two of these properties to ensure that they are compliant with Ofsted regulations.

“It is expected that any new provision will be wholly funded by central government and will not present an additional burden on Kent taxpayers.

As with existing reception centres, they will be run by KCC employees and will have stringent security and safeguarding controls in place.

They will only provide temporary accommodation and care for unaccompanied asylum seeking children until they are transferred to another UK local authority.

By bringing these properties into use as new reception centres the council believes it will be able to meet the requirements of the court ruling and its statutory duties under the Children’s Act 1989.