And the Home Office on Thursday morning confirmed 27 asylum seekers, all of whom arrived by small boat, were bussed in despite fierce local opposition.

The coach, with a police escort, was driven onto the camp in persistent rain just before 3.30am today.

Sources said they will only be housed there for up to three months while their asylum claim is processed.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Illegal migration has been placing immense pressure on communities.

“That is why we are removing the incentives that draw illegal migrants to Britain, closing asylum hotels that are blighting communities.

“Crowborough is just the start. I will bring forward site after site until every asylum hotel is closed and returned to local communities.

“I will not rest until order and control to our borders is restored.”

Local councillor James Partridge said: “I’m really sorry to let you know that the Home Office Minister, Alex Norris, that the Home Office has decided to open the Crowborough Army Camp for use as a temporary site for asylum seekers.

“I told the minister that we still strongly feel that’s the wrong decision for all reasons you’ll be familiar with.

“Despite our strong objection, the minister hasn’t listened to any of us.”

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to close every migrant hotel by 2029, with so-called large sites a key part of Labour’s plan to do so.

But residents claim the area around Crowborough barracks lacks the infrastructure and facilities to cope with an influx of hundreds of male migrants, who will be free to come and go from the base.

They argue that it will also deprive the military of a key training facility for the 12,000 cadets a year who use Crowborough to learn to operate in heavily wooded terrain.

Some 36,273 are staying in taxpayer-funded hotel rooms, a 13% rise compared to June’s figure of 32,041, while 66,232 are living in communities across Britain.