“Whilst in theory FNOs who have served their sentence should be transferred to Immigration Removal Centres to await deportation, a lack of returns agreements with certain countries means their nationals will never be deported.

“These individuals are therefore transferred to asylum accommodation on an indefinite basis.”

Home Office sources said it has been a “longstanding approach”, with some foreign offenders able to receive housing because they have claimed asylum. More than 18,000 foreign criminals were living in the community in September, according to the latest Home Office figures.

More than 38,000 migrants are staying in hotel rooms, costing £5.5 million a day. A further 65,707 are in other accommodation.

Putting someone in a hotel room costs £145 per night, compared with £14 for accommodation such as houses, bedsits and flats, the National Audit Office said.

Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, told the Daily Express: “There should not be a single foreign criminal in Britain.

“If a county is not prepared to take back their convicts then they should face severe sanctions. Restrictions on tourist visas, huge taxes on remittances, trade limitations must all be implemented far more stridently.

“The British public are fed up with our country being used as the world’s dustbin for the worst and most nefarious. Politicians should not be spending a single penny of taxpayers’ money indefinitely housing foreign criminals.

“Under these measures, violent thugs, sexual offenders and drug dealers are all free to continue plaguing our nation and its communities. The UK is a soft touch, laughed at around the world. Enough is enough, the time for tough action is now.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Express: “Serco’s comments highlight the fact that dangerous foreign national offenders should be deported at the end of their prison sentence.

“Too many are allowed to stay in the UK, presenting a risk to law-abiding British citizens. Very often spurious human rights claims are made by foreign criminals to avoid being deported back to their country of origin.

“In one recent case, a Zimbabwean paedophile successfully fought his deportation on the ground he might face “hostility“ in Zimbabwe. This human rights madness has to end, which is why Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Borders Bill repealing the Human Rights Act in relation to immigration matters.

“Predictably, Labour MPs voted against it but we will be trying again. These dangerous criminals all need to be kicked out for the safety of the British public.”

The Daily Express previously revealed how the Home Office has rejected “alternative housing solutions” because of their costs “despite being cheaper than current contingency hotels”.

Asylum accommodation provider Serco has put forward plans for a “range of alternative medium-sized accommodation sites”, including converting student accommodation, but the Home Office Property Board has rejected the majority of the proposals.

This is likely to undermine Labour’s plan to close down migrant hotels.

Home Office minister Angela Eagle said it is “pointless” to give a timeframe for when hotels will stop being used to house asylum seekers who have arrived in small boats.

Ms Eagle said the Government wanted to improve asylum processing times, which would ensure they are moved on more quickly.

She said: “I want to get out of hotels as quickly as is feasible. I’m not going to name particular dates, because that is a pointless thing to do. The thing is that we’ve got to get through the appeals system, and the first asylum processing system so that we can move people through the system much more quickly.

“We also need to continue our work on returns. We’ve ramped those up so that there’s been a huge increase in people returned. The highest figures for the last five years, and we intend to continue with that process.”

Mr Philp, during an urgent question in Parliament on Tuesday, said the Government should apologise for ending the Tories’ Rwanda scheme.

He said: “The use of asylum hotels has gone up in fact by 8,000 since the general election. Hasn’t gone down, it’s gone up. 38,000 mainly illegal immigrants, are now in those hotels, costing hard working taxpayers around £2 billion a year.

“It is completely unacceptable that taxpayers are asked to foot a bill this size. The people living in those hotels broke our laws by coming here from France. France is a manifestly safe country. Nobody needs to leave France.”

He added: “Since the first of January, more people have crossed the English Channel illegally than any year in history. This is the worst year. It is 38% worse than the previous worst year. So things are getting worse, not better. They haven’t smashed the gangs. They have capitulated to them.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is reviewing whether to restrict foreign criminals and illegal migrants from exploiting human rights laws to block their deportations.

She is looking at how Article 8 of the ECHR, which guarantees the right to family life, is being applied by immigration courts to ensure that it is being interpreted in a “sensible” and “proportionate” way.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.

“We work closely with accommodation providers to ensure the safety and welfare of asylum seekers in our accommodation, including tailoring support to meet their individual needs if necessary.”