HUNDREDS of asylum seekers who commit crimes in Britain are being let off by police and local authorities it has been claimed.

Outraged hostel worker Bob Robinson says he has quit his job in protest after claiming to have witnessed scores of immigrants going unpunished despite breaking the law.

The 42-year-old security official claims many of the immigrants seeking asylum are able to flout the law because it is too much hassle to prosecute them.

And, after "witnessing it for too long," he has torn up his contract for his employment at an asylum hostel in Huddersfield and walked out of his job in disgust.

He claims that residents are allowed to own cars despite having no licences or insurance, that many evade arrest for driving offences because police can't be bothered to find translators, and asylum seekers are employed by local factories despite receiving benefits paid by the tax payer.

And he fears the shocking abuse of the law by some residents at the hostel in Huddersfield could be mirrored with hundreds more cases across the country.

He said: "The Government says there are around 10,000 failed asylum seekers still in the country but that's absolute rubbish. The truth is, nobody knows.''

Clare House, where Mr Robinson worked for two years, houses up to 33 asylum seekers for periods of up to three months while Kirklees Council tries to find them permanent homes.

It is not seen as part of its duty to monitor the residents' behaviour, just to provide them all with temporary accommodation. But he believes many of the asylum seekers use their stay as an opportunity to milk the system.

He added: "I believe the vast majority of the people at the hostel were genuine asylum seekers. You could tell they had been through some traumatic experiences but some of them had the 'gimme-gimme' attitude.

"You'd see them with wedges of cash and they would be wearing all the designer clothes but they were still receiving benefits.

"It was common knowledge that residents were illegally working but despite my constant concerns nothing was done.

"In the morning you would see them leaving work in their overalls with their sandwiches packed.
"And some of them would park their cars in the street outside even though they had no licence or insurance because they knew if they got caught nothing would happen. The police sometimes couldn't be bothered with all the paper work and finding translators. So if they happened to get caught some police officers would simply drop them back here and let them off."

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police promised to investigate his claims.

The deputy leader of Kirkless Council, Kenneth Sims, said: ''I can't say anything about this incident because I don't know. However, whoever they are, they should be dealt with properly and I will certainly be pursuing this on Monday."