Migrant crisis: First pictures inside barge to house asylum seekers for £20k a day - complete with gym and games room

All those staying in the barge will have their own ensuite room, access to TVs, and free wifi throughout.

The Bibby Stockholm will be used for at least 18 months and will be based in Portland Port, Dorset.

Estimates have put the overall price tag of the charter and the berthing of the barge at more than £20,000 a day.

But officials say it will massively reduce the cost of £6million a day spent on housing migrants in hotels.

Announcing the plans yesterday, Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said: “We will not elevate the interests of illegal migrants over the British people we are elected to serve.

“We have to use alternative accommodation options, as our European neighbours are doing – including the use of barges and ferries – to save the British taxpayer money and to prevent the UK becoming a magnet for asylum shoppers in Europe.

"All accommodation will meet our legal obligations and we will work closely with the local community to address their concerns, including through financial support.”

The Bibby Stockholm is currently in Italy and will move to the UK in the "coming months".

As well as the barge, ministers are also looking at using cruise ships and old RAF bases to house asylum seekers.

But the plans have been criticised by campaigners who have accused the Government of "cruelty".

Amnesty International said: "All talk of barges, cruise ships and former military barracks should be abandoned.

"Anyone seeking asylum in this country should be housed in decent accommodation with proper facilities and, crucially, their claims should be properly and consistently processed.

"Instead of more ministerial cruelty, we need sweeping asylum reforms."

Around 51,000 asylum seekers are currently in temporary accommodation such as hotels as the Government tackles a backlog of claims.