Southend Council looks set to accept a further 27 unaccompanied child asylum seekers into the borough.

The council is set to meet later today to discuss the plans at a cabinet meeting.

Southend, which currently has given homes to eight unaccompanied child asylum seekers so far this year, has been asked to take on another 27 by the Government.

Council leader Ian Gilbert told BBC Essex the local authority was planning on accepting the request.

In June, Kent County Council – which takes in those coming ashore on the south coast – warned that it had “reached the limit” for the number of unaccompanied child migrants it can look after for the second time in a year.

Around the same time, the Home Office announced measures to ensure that responsibility will be “more fairly distributed” across the UK.

The Echo will be covering the cabinet meeting at 2pm with more to follow.