Revealed: The councils accommodating more asylum seekers than homeless people - as outrage grows after heavily pregnant homeless woman was refused emergency accommodation

Nineteen council areas are accommodating more than ten times as many asylum seekers as households of homeless people, Daily Mail analysis suggests.

The biggest disparity was in Hyndburn in Lancashire, with the latest government data showing 423 asylum seekers were being housed there, while only 14 homeless households were in temporary accommodation.

The full results of our investigation can be viewed in our interactive map, which lays bare the true situation in every council.

It comes after the shocking case of a 26-year-old heavily pregnant woman being left homeless in Glasgow after the council refused to find her a home – despite more than 3,700 mostly male asylum seekers living in state-supported accommodation in the city.

The charity Homeless Project Scotland publicised the 34-week-pregnant mother's plight on Facebook, revealing she had fled an abusive relationship in London but was still snubbed by Glasgow City Council.

Now critics of Britain's creaking asylum system have seized upon the Mail's investigation as proof that the asylum system is having a 'detrimental impact' on the level of support being offered to the most vulnerable. 

Home Office data shows more than 74,000 asylum seekers – the equivalent of a town the size of St Albans or Woking – were being housed across England as of the end of June.

By comparison, 123,000 homeless 'households' were in temporary accommodation as of March. Households in temporary accommodation roughly contain around 2.5 people. 

A woman walks past a homeless person lying in a doorway in a Glasgow city centre street

But because there is no data for homeless people in temporary housing for each council, the only way to compare the two is to match homeless households against the number of individual asylum seekers.

Twelve councils did not publish figures on homeless households, so we excluded them from our analysis. Data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were also excluded because they are recorded differently.

The tragic case of the pregnant woman in Glasgow evoked widespread criticism of Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, which is a combination of the city's council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to manage social work services.

A spokesman from the organisation said yesterday it was 'reviewing' her case while 'engaging and supporting her appropriately'.

Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, told the Daily Mail the case was symptomatic of 'the two-tiered approach' that has been in operation in Britain. 

He said: 'The political class have at every turn prioritised illegal migrants over British citizens. 

'Tens of thousands of asylum seekers are instantly found accommodation in hotels and HMOs whilst many Brits who have fallen on hard times are left to fend for themselves. 

'The British government should be working exclusively for the people of this country, not putting uninvited interlopers at the front of the queue.' 

Migrants try to board a smuggler's boat off the beach of Equihen-Plage, northern France, last week

Homeless Project Scotland first became aware of the pregnant woman's case when she arrived at its main base in central Glasgow on Tuesday, September 29,  at about 9.30pm.

Volunteers there contacted Glasgow City Council's out-of-hours emergency service for help but say the woman was told during her gruelling, hours-long interview to return to London to seek accommodation.

Sebastian Tuszynski, manager of Homeless Project Scotland's Glasgow shelter, claimed in a Facebook video she had been told by a council worker that the woman's unborn baby had 'no human rights'.

When the charity's chief executive Colin McInnes explained to the local authority it would not be able to house the woman for the night as it was at full capacity, he said: 'They told me, 'Unfortunately this lady is going to have to sleep on the streets because we won't be accommodating her'.'  

Mr McInnes said the woman then spent the night sleeping on a mattress on the night shelter's floor before leaving for the streets the following morning, but volunteers later found her and directed her back to social services. 

The case is one of the most 'horrific' Mr McInnes said he has ever seen.

But more than a week after she first arrived, Homeless Project Scotland revealed in another social media post that it was still housing the pregnant woman at its shelter. 

Another harrowing case shared by the charity involved a wheelchair-bound homeless man with one leg, being turned down by the council for emergency accommodation due to there being no wheelchair-accessible accommodation available after midnight.

Glasgow currently houses more than 3,700 asylum seekers, more than half of the 6,500 across the whole of Scotland.

Government figures have shown there were 3,895 applications for homelessness support between April and September last year, including 1,685 - 43 per cent - from people with refugee status or leave to remain, excluding Ukrainian nationals. 

Another harrowing case shared by the charity involved a wheelchair-bound homeless man with one leg (pictured), being turned down by the council for emergency accommodation due to there being no wheelchair-accessible accommodation available after midnight

Homeless Project Scotland founder Colin McInnes (pictured) has criticised officials for their response after a 34-week pregnant woman, 26, came to a night shelter in Glasgow

Mr Bates added: 'The asylum system is having a very real and detrimental impact on the level of support that is being offered to the most vulnerable in society. 

'It should be a source of national shame that we have reached a point, as a result of years of border failure, where scarce resources are being diverted from those most in need in order to prop up a failing asylum system.'

While an asylum seeker is waiting to hear the outcome of their claim, the Home Office is legally obligated to provide them housing if they need it.

If they are successful they become recognised as refugees – entitled to work and receive full state benefits.

From that point on, councils have statutory responsibility to look after housing, if the refugees are unable to.

But councils do not provide accommodation to everyone and instead use a priority system, which takes into account children and other vulnerability factors, to decide who gets a home.

It means that some refugees may also fall under the homeless category in official statistics.

As well as getting free accommodation, asylum seekers are also entitled to taxpayer-funded NHS healthcare, prescriptions, dental care and children under 18 are required to go to school, where they may be able to get free meals.

Homeless people in temporary accommodation are offered full state benefits such as Universal Credit, and some hostels provide food that is paid through a service charge. 

Critics claim that many homeless people have paid council tax and contributed for years to British tax and society, unlike asylum seekers.

There have been some cases in recent years of local authorities block-booking entire hotels for homeless people, in the same way the Home Office does for asylum seekers. 

But in the battle for scarce accommodation, councils have lost out on renting hotels due to Home Office contractors seeking space for asylum seekers outbidding them.  

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to get all rough sleepers off the streets by this Christmas. 

Yet he later admitted that extra Government funding might not be enough to do so.

The Prime Minister made a 'rallying call' for local communities to get behind his plan, which he is backing with an extra £102million of funding from Angela Rayner's housing department.

This is on top of the £340million already announced by Mr Burnham as part of his promise to end rough sleeping in England.

A government spokesperson said: 'Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing, and asylum accommodation does not give asylum seekers access to council housing or preferential treatment on local housing waiting lists.

'We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country and will close every asylum hotel by the end of this Parliament – a process which has already helped to save taxpayers £1 billion since the general election.

'Instead, we are moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites, to reduce impact on local communities. 

'As part of this work, we will engage with local authorities and police forces to minimise the impact on surrounding areas.'