A MILITARY site expected to soon house nearly 600 asylum seekers sits on land riddled with unexploded grenades, The Sun can reveal.
Locals in Crowborough say they have dug up live munitions in their own gardens, including a World War 2 grenade blown up by Army bomb disposal.
They fear what could happen if hundreds of men with free access in and out of the camp stumble across buried explosives.
The revelation comes just days after the Home Office delayed opening the site – along with Cameron Barracks in Inverness – amid growing questions over whether it is “fully operational and safe”.
Phill Straker, who has lived beside the East Sussex camp for 15 years, told The Sun he has unearthed “at least half a dozen grenades and around 200 rounds of ammunition”, all just feet from the site’s main entrance.
He said: “I found the first one when I was doing the fencing which borders us from the army camp, and it was right along the fence line.
“I was digging a fence post, and I found one. I had never seen one before.
“I went round to the army camp, and they told me I had to call the army bomb disposal squad, which I did through the police.
“They came along and confirmed it was a World War Two grenade, and they blew it up on site.
“And then, since then, over the years, every now and again, we’ll be doing some digging, do some work somewhere, and more would turn up.”
The now-retired local insisted that while he is concerned about the unexploded ordnance, he is far more worried about 540 undocumented men being moved in with no CCTV, no extra policing and unrestricted access past his home every day.
Crowborough Camp and Cameron Barracks in Inverness are supposed to be the first two military sites used to shift asylum seekers out of costly hotels and into large-scale accommodation centres.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.
“Moving to large military sites is an important part of our reforms to tackle illegal migration and the pull factors that make the UK an attractive destination.
“Crowborough residents will be safe. The Home Office takes steps to ensure all our sites are safe, legal, and compliant.”
Officials also stressed the site has undergone full suitability assessments.
