A LEADING county councillor has been criticised for his attitude towards immigration and asylum seekers with remarks he made set to be debated by the council next week.

Councillor Alan Amos wrote to our sister paper the Worcester News, claiming unaccompanied child asylum seekers had put a strain on the council’s social services.

However, his strongly-worded comments led to a motion being put forward by Worcestershire County Council’s Liberal Democrat councillors which “repudiates” his views.

The councillors also backed a reply, also sent to the Worcester News, by Cllr Andy Roberts in which he pointed out only 23 asylum-seeking children had come to Worcestershire unaccompanied last year and funding is provided by the government.

The motion ends: “As a council we are proud that a small number of vulnerable people affected by the Syrian conflict are being housed within Worcestershire and that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are being given support.”

However, Cllr Amos remains unrepentant and has written a second letter to the paper, saying the objections of “bleeding-heart liberals” to his opposition to “endless illegal immigration” followed a predictable pattern.

He said: “Firstly, it starts with personal smears of anybody who has the temerity just to talk about immigration, a subject up to now people have been too scared to mention for fear of this kind of abuse, the pent-up anger and frustration of which led the British people to vote for Brexit.

Cllr Amos said “illegals” are “anything but desperate and exploited” and questioned whether Worcestershire could cope.

“Where exactly are the spare houses, hospital beds, GPs, and school places?” he asked.

Cllr Amos added: “They chose to go to Serbia when it removed the need for tourist visas last year and long planned their journey here, choosing not to claim asylum in any of the many safe countries they passed through to get to the UK where an army of immigration lawyers, all paid for by the state, will ensure they all get to stay here.”

The motion will be discussed at a full county council meeting on Thursday January 17.