Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused Essex Police of misleading the public about crime associated with asylum seekers living at a former military site in Wethersfield, as disagreements continue over the impact of migrant accommodation on local communities.
Farage criticised Essex Police Chief Constable Rachel Nolan after she said crime linked to the accommodation near Braintree remained low and that there was no clear reason for residents to be concerned about criminality associated with asylum seekers at the site.
According to Essex Police, 15 offences involving members of the public as victims had been recorded since the site opened in 2023, with suspects identified as, or alleged to be, residents of the accommodation.
The force also reported 23 arrests connected to asylum seekers at Wethersfield during 2026, most involving incidents in which migrants were accused of offences against other migrants.
Police said incidents associated with the site represented 0.57 per cent of the 38,677 incidents officers attended across the wider Braintree district since the accommodation opened. The force added that it responded firmly to reported offences and acknowledged the importance of understanding local residents’ concerns.
Farage made his comments while joining a patrol in Chelmsford organised under Operation Vanguard, a three-month initiative funded by Reform-led Essex County Council.
The programme deploys six trained, uniformed security operatives to patrol town centres in Chelmsford, Colchester and Braintree between 10:00 and 18:00, seven days a week. The trial is expected to cost nearly £120,000.
The council said the initiative was introduced in September following concerns about minibuses being used to take asylum seekers from Wethersfield on outings.
Farage said the patrols had helped address shoplifting and a serious sexual assault. He argued that the programme should be expanded, claiming that additional security personnel could help improve public safety in areas where his party controls local government.
He also criticised police forces more broadly, alleging that officers were no longer doing enough to tackle shoplifting.
Essex Police disputed that characterisation, saying officers had secured more than 4,000 charges for shop theft over the previous year, an increase of approximately 3,500 compared with the preceding 12 months.
The dispute highlights continuing tensions over how crime associated with asylum accommodation is reported and interpreted. While Farage argued that police were understating the problem, Essex Police maintained that incidents linked to Wethersfield remained a small proportion of the overall number recorded in the district.
The figures cited by the force distinguish between offences involving members of the public and other incidents connected to the accommodation. Police said most of the arrests involving Wethersfield residents during 2026 concerned alleged offences against other migrants.
Farage did not specify which national crime statistics he was referring to when he accused police of misleading the public.
The debate comes as local authorities and communities continue to discuss asylum accommodation, public safety and the role of additional patrols in town centres.