An inspection into hotels used to house child refugees has uncovered a catalogue of failings in Home Office care for the minors.

The independent investigation into the quality of accommodation for "extremely vulnerable" unaccompanied asylum-seeking children found issues with security, vetting of adults with access to properties, and plans to transition youngsters into more appropriate long-term housing.

Inspectors visited a number of hotels in the south east - including 60-room accommodation in Folkestone and a 44-room property in Hythe - during a three-month period earlier this year.

They discovered what their report describes as a "lack of professionalism" among security staff at the Folkestone hotel, including sitting in cars while on duty rather than being in appropriate positions to guard the site.

This led to an incident where a far-right activist was able to spend almost 15 minutes on the premises, streaming on YouTube, after accessing the site via a rear door.

Inspectors also discovered staff on site who had not been properly vetted via the DBS clearance process, and keys to rooms were accessible in areas not always overseen by a member of staff.

David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, said: "It is clear that the housing of these extremely vulnerable children in hotels represents a significant challenge to the Home Office, in both ethical and operational terms.

"This inspection did find areas of significant concern..."

"This is not an area in which the Home Office should be operating. A clear cross-Government approach is required.

"Inspectors found Home Office and contractor staff were, in the main, committed and engaged in their work and keen to provide the best possible environment for the young people in their care.

"However, this inspection did find areas of significant concern including two cases of staff who had not been Disclosure and Barring Service checked residing at hotels."

The inspections also found that young people are not provided with any kind of formal or informal education while living in the hotels.

Social workers had identified a need for more educational input, but Home Office staff admitted "there’s no way our provision can cater for that gap".

Razia Shariff, chief executive of Kent Refugee Action Network, said: "We welcome the inspection of these hotels and the recommendations in the report.

"KRAN strongly believes that placing newly arrived, vulnerable and traumatise young asylum seekers without adequate support or activities should not be the 'norm' even on a temporary basis.

"The system has a duty of care to these young people which it cannot fulfill in a hotel environment."

Following the publication, the Home Office has accepted the need for all staff to have DBS checks.

The department has also partially accepted three other recommendations made by inspectors.