Further concerns have been raised in the community with regards to matters at the Asylum Seekers Accommodation Centre in Penally, after reports of on site security staff seemingly holding a demonstration on Tuesday night (November 17) following a dispute that they had allegedly not been paid by their employers in recent weeks.

Eye witnesses have claimed that security staff stood outside the gates for a period of time until an agreement was reached on unpaid wages with their bosses at ‘AK?Security’.

Police officers were also on hand to monitor the situation.

In relation to the allegation that they had not received any wages from their employers at the firm ‘AK Security’, a spokesperson for the Home Office when contacted stated: ‘All current staff members have been paid’.

The Home Office who issued a post on its Facebook page shortly after the camp had been controversially repurposed claiming: ‘We’ve been working tirelessly with local partners and the community in Pembrokeshire ahead of plans to house asylum seekers in the area in accommodation provided by the Minister of Defence’ - were slammed at the time by Penally county councillor Jon Preston who responded: “The only people ‘working tirelessly’ are the people who are here dealing with this!

“You have totaly misjudged this call and how this community will respond. The people inside the camp are bewildred and have very limited resourses.

“There has been no finacial or community support and we are living with civil unrest. Please do not insult our intelligence with such posts.”

On Tuesday night’s incident the spokesperson for the Home Office went onto claim that the story was ‘completely false’, and that ‘there was no protest by security staff at the Penally site and the police were not called.’

It’s the latest controversy surrounding the ‘AK Security’ firm subcontracted by Clearsprings, tasked with patrolling the camp and looking after the safety of the service users since it was repurposed by the Home Office almost 2 months ago, with the facility currently housing around 170 asylum seekers, with scope for that to increase to 234.

Last month, police and paramedics attended the camp one afternoon to tend to an incident where a member of the public was allegedly assaulted outside the site after an altercation with a member of the security staff. The injured 55-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment.

At the time Dyfed-Powys Police stated that an investigation was taking place into the circumstances around the ‘allegation of assault outside Penally Asylum Accommodation Centre’ on October 8.

Security staff at the site have also on more than one occasion required police assistance to deal with incidents taking place inside the camp, most recently during the evening of Tuesday, November 10, when a disturbance was reported at the Penally Asylum Accommodation Centre, with police officers attending and five males arrested for minor assaults.

Two men were also arrested after a disturbance within the facility on October 20, with one eye witness residing nearby describing a ‘mass brawl’ breaking out amongst asylum seekers, which required a large police presence at the facility, with over a dozen police vehicles in attendance.

A 22-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of affray, and a 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of assault, would ‘not be returning to the Penally site’ a police spokesperson said following the incident.

Concerns were also raised on social media after a number of photos were displayed on the ‘AK Security’ firms website showing various sets of firearms, such as AK 9 mm rifles and handguns, which were subsequently removed after complaints were raised.

With security issues now in the spotlight once again at the facility, the Home Office have stated previously that there is no curfew in place for those residing at the camp in Penally, but there is a signing in and signing out register, and residents are required to stay overnight at the camp, with welfare calls made if they have not returned by 10 pm.

Although the asylum seekers are not detained, Clear Springs the site management company have stated that they will take the necessary steps to ensure people return to the camp.

If anyone unaccountably goes missing then a missing person’s process is initiated.

The firm ‘AK Security’ whose base is in London and the have been contacted for comment following Tuesday night’s incident.