A COUNCILLOR has said the Government should reflect over “mistakes made” when dozens of refugees were housed in a ferry off the Harwich coast.

Harwich county councillor Ivan Henderson voiced fears over plans reportedly mooted by the Government  to buy retired ferries and convert them into processing centres.

In 1987, the Earl William, a converted car ferry, housed 78 Tamil refugees off Harwich, but disaster nearly struck when it broke free from its moorings and ran aground during a huge storm.

It ended up beached on a mud bank and the Government gave the refugees temporary admission to the UK.

Mr Henderson said complaints raged around the conditions of the ship, with detainees access to the open-air decks restricted because of the potential suicide risk.

Among those who protested at the way Tamil refugees were being treated was Jeremy Corbyn, who was pictured with a banner hung over the side of the ship that read: “British people! Don’t let us die.”

“We hate this place,” 18-year-old Sugirithni Navaratnam reportedly told the press at the time.

In July 1987, the ship’s capacity of 120 detainees made it the largest detention centre in the country.

Mr Henderson added: “There were all sorts of protests at the time. They could not come out of their rooms.

“There were big protests at the time over the conditions they were being kept in.”

His concerns come after reports emerged the Government is looking into the idea of buying retired ferries and converting them into processing centres.

Appearing before the Public Affairs Committee, Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft said he would not comment on leaks to newspapers, but admitted the department was “brainstorming” ideas.