EXCLUSIVE: Investigations editor Zak Garner-Purkis went to one of London’s busiest asylum hotels

The migrants stood outside the 3-star asylum hotel in central London looked like they’d been drinking for some time.

When my colleague and I arrived at the scene in one of London’s most expensive districts, we saw the crowd outside break into smiles. But it was not us they were smiling at. No, they were smiling at a heavy-set man in a vest who had just arrived with a fresh six-pack of lager.

Discarded beer bottles littered the floor and there was a half-drunk 2-litre cider nestled behind the group.

We’d come to speak to asylum seekers from the hotel who were brazenly carrying out illegal work as couriers.

But that task was made much more of a challenge by the mass of men from the accommodation partying outside.

“I don’t like the camera,” slurred one man with a red designer tracksuit falling off his shoulders.

I saw him suck the last of the cannabis smoke from his joint as he cradled a beer. He was incoherent; high, drunk or a combination of both.

At a central London location migrants were working with disregard for the law (Image: Phil Harris)

The slurred embarrassment was not at being wasted in broad daylight, but at the idea he might be caught on camera.

He was far from alone in his drunken misbehaviour. Around an hour later a shorter man with spikey hair and a wild look in his eyes barged out of the hotel.

Mingling amongst the drinkers he got into an animated argument with one of the other men grabbing him by the face.

The pair grappled with each other as other migrants tried to pull them apart. Eventually, hotel security intervened, separating them.

Walking across the road, the man with wild eyes stared at us aggressively. He was dishelved and had his chest exposed. But as he turned the corner I saw a white shimmer from his jacket pocket, it was a brand new iPhone.

That was far from the only indication that some of those staying at the Home Office accomodation were living lives that were probably beyond the £49.18 allowance provided by the government.

Three or four of the men wore brand new football shirts worth at least £70 and had designer tracksuits on.

It’s difficult to know the exact circumstances behind each case. A Telegraph investigation found traffickers were having asylum seekers work as couriers from the site to pay off debts.

Illegal working aside, the atmosphere outside the hotel had an edge.

I’ve been to lots of migrant camps and hotels, they are normally places where you need to have your wits about you. But by and large I’ve found that if you are sensible you’re safe.

Migrants hid their faces as they cycled by on courier bikes working illegally (Image: Phil Harris)

This hotel was not like that. The guys there didn’t care about drinking or taking drugs in full view of the public.

When women walked past they were leered at and our attempts to ask questions were met by attempts to intimidate.

We were circled by several men who stared us down and a man on Lime bike pedalled towards us at speed.

None were more aggressive than a 6ft 3” man with a Caribbean accent. He came out of the building and then moved into our view to stare.

As we tried to speak to a courier emerging from the building he started shouting. “You put your camera on me again I’ll bust your face,” he shouted.

The shocking thing about it was not the drinking or the illegal work, it was the brazeness. These guys didn’t care. They were happy to stumble around drunk as kids cycled by on their way to school and oggle intimidatingly at passing women.

If I was planning to move permanently to France or some other country I’d be conscious of the need to give a good impression. I think most people would.

Were it the case that I was claiming to be fleeing for my safety, I’d certainly make sure that I wasn’t breaking any laws or behaving in a way that would upset locals.