A plan for a barge at Portland Port housing more than 500 migrants has been compared to 'having a housing estate plonked in at a moment's notice'.

Portland Mayor Pete Roper hit out at the government and Portland Port for not consulting residents after news that Home Secretary Suella Braverman could face a legal challenge over her plan to house migrants on a floating accommodation barge at the port.

Dorset Council is opposed to the use of the port as the site and South Dorset Conservative MP Richard Drax said he was working to get the plan 'consigned to the dustbin'.

Mayor Roper said: "From a Portland point of view there has been no consultation with local councillors or even our local member of parliament, it has just been between the Home Office and Portland Port.

"My major worry is this barge is going to be plonked on Portland Port with five hundred people on the vessel and we haven't heard of any increase in support services for the residents of the barge or indeed for the island itself.

"It is like having a housing estate plonked in at a moment's notice without recognising the need for medical, security and hospitality services.

"This is not a prison ship, we have to assume people will be free to come and go."

The Bibby Stockholm vessel, which will reportedly cost taxpayers more than £20,000 a day, could accommodate more than 500 migrants.

Details of any agreement with Liverpool-based Bibby Marine Limited and the costs were unclear, but the 93-metre-long vessel can house up to 506 people in its 222 bedrooms.

Portland Port confirmed it had been selected by the Home Office as a site for a migrant barge, but Dorset Council said it has “serious concerns about the suitability of the location for this facility”.

The Times reported the vessel would cost £15,000 a day to charter, with the cost of berthing it in Portland upwards of £4,500 a day, and additional expenditure required on services including security and catering.

Mr Drax, the South Dorset MP, said the barge was being “dumped on our door” without consultation by the Home Office as he urged Ms Braverman to scrap the idea.

“Every option’s being looked at including legal action,” he told the PA news agency.

“We want to get this consigned to the dustbin before anything’s signed.

“We want to activate ourselves and say look Home Secretary, sorry, this is not the right place, can you please cancel this.”

He raised concerns about the practicality of keeping hundreds of vulnerable individuals in a “very, very restricted area”, placing extra pressure on the port’s “very small” police force.

“They will be allowed out on a bus every so often but in effect will be incarcerated for quite a lot of the time,” he said.

He also raised concerns about the impact on businesses in the seaside resort of Weymouth, adding: “This is an extremely sensitive area which relies heavily on summer trade, I cannot see how this is going to be anything but detrimental. ”

Portland Port said details of the scheme were still being finalised.

The port’s chief executive, Bill Reeves, said: “Portland Port has been selected by the Home Office to provide space for an accommodation facility.

“We are currently liaising with the Home Office about the next steps.”