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Speaking to MailOnline, a source said: “They get £8 a week to live on, and that has to cover everything, from toiletries to transport.

“These are very often people that have been traumatised, escaped from wars or persecution, and now they are being held in what is essentially an open prison, where their punishment is being bored, left to do nothing, and be given terrible food to eat, with no means or tools to cook for themselves.

Asylum seekers inside the guesthouses are provided with meals; however, these have been described as “inedible”.

The source said: “There’s no other option, and the most frustrating thing about it is that the hotel has a kitchen, but it’s locked. They have no other way to provide themselves with food at all.

“Many of them say it’s pretty inedible. They don’t want to complain about it, they have hopes that they can be granted refugee status and make a new life for themselves in this country, but we feel like complaining about it on their behalf, because it’s pretty appalling.”

The source told MailOnline that those inside wanted to complain, but felt reluctant to do so individually, so wanted the campaigners to raise the issue on their behalf.

These objections are not one-offs with other asylum seekers in other Home Office-managed buildings complaining about the quality of food provided.

The source told MailOnline: “There’s a lot of misinformation being put out there about how these people are living in some kind of luxury, just because they are being put up in a hotel, but the reality is very different.”

Around 100 men are living in one of the guesthouses in the south of Bristol. Meanwhile, their wives and children live in a second hotel close by.

While their food is catered for, the asylum seekers inside these guesthouses are not allowed to earn money themselves.

In a statement, the Home Office said: “The food provided in asylum hotels meets all the NHS Eatwell standards as well as responding to all cultural and dietary requirements.

“Asylum seekers in hotels are provided with three meals a day, as well as a weekly allowance and additional provisions for families with a baby or toddler.

“Where concerns are raised about any aspect of the service delivered in a hotel, we work with the provider to ensure these concerns are addressed, while asylum seekers have access to 24/7 helpline to raise any concerns they have and are able to make formal complaints which will always be followed up.”

Many of the asylum seekers housed in the guesthouses are either fleeing persecution from a Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan, famine in east Africa, or the civil war in Syria say sources.

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