THE Haslar Immigration Removal Centre has been sharply criticised in a report by the chief inspector of prisons.

Conditions within the centre that houses asylum seekers awaiting deportation were laid bare in the report by Anne Owers who recommended im-provements in nearly all areas.

It ranked lowest in the inspections of all five immigration centres across the country in terms of how safe the detainees felt after staying there.

Only ten per cent of people at Haslar, which is run by the Prison Service, said they felt safe after staying some time there compared to the national figure of 37 per cent.

The probe found that there was a significant lack of staff involvement with detainees and the provision of interpretation services and legal advice was weak.

Prisons inspector Anne Owers said: "In these reports we point to some good practice and relationships within centres as well as some common areas of weakness.

"We found that the two prison service centres, in particular, were struggling with their new responsibilities under detention centre rules, and a great deal of work and staff training was needed in key areas."

Michael Woolley of the Haslar Visitor Group said the report echoes the findings of their own report carried out in February.

He said: "Haslar Visitors Group considers immigrants an unpopular but very vulnerable group. Many don't speak English, many live below the poverty line. A civilised country should treat the vulnerable with special care - this report highlights the failure to do that in IRC Haslar."

However, the Home Office while pledging to take the recommendations on board, has criticised the report.

A spokeswoman said the inspection was carried out at a time when the centre was undergoing a transition and that in the last 12 months since the inspection a raft of improvements have been made.

She said: "The report is largely based on the views of detainees themselves. Detainees in re-moval centres neither want to leave the UK nor wish to be detained. It is not surprising that some of them have ex-pressed dissatisfaction."