The arrivals that have divided a town

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Abel Nigussie crossed the Channel in a small boat in the middle of the night. The 24-year-old says he was crammed in with '80 or 90' others making the treacherous journey in the hope of starting a new life.

Now, just a fortnight later, he's living in the Cresta Court Hotel on the outskirts of Altrincham town centre. "I was lucky," he says as he sits on a picnic bench in the car park. "I have no money [to pay to cross the Channel] but some people tell me how to hide on the boat. READ MORE: Landlord issues statement after man claims his home hit by damp, mould, leaks and sewage "I tried four or five times, everybody running, eventually I hide myself.

There were 80 plus people on the boat. Many, many people. The journey took eight hours. It was dark, the waves were very high.

It was very, very hard." Abel, who is originally from Eritrea in east Africa, is one of around 300 male asylum seekers being put up at Cresta Court.