ASYLUM seekers in Atherton are set to benefit from close to a quarter of a million pounds.

A budget of £218,000 has been set aside by council finance chiefs to provide accommodation for destitute asylum seekers flooding into the area.

The sum -- equivalent to £24 a week for each of the 35 families currently seeking asylum -- was announced as part of a package unveiled by Home Secretary Jack Straw.

It will be used by Wigan Council to provide around 168 houses and flats over the next five years -- a 79 per cent increase on current levels.

A home improvement programme will be set up in a bid to create suitable houses for people awaiting government decisions on their asylum application.

Council accommodation on the Hag Fold estate in Atherton is currently being used and the new plan is likely to involve an expansion of housing provision there.

Newtown, Norley Hall and Worsley Mesnes are other areas already being populated by asylum seekers.

A spokesman for the council said that all of the cash spent on the project would be recouped.

He added: "The money is the cost of setting up the programme. It's not a cheque which the council has written just to pass over to asylum seekers.

"The housing department will be looking at using council houses and single units which would not take away accommodation for people who are currently on the waiting list."

Cash is also earmarked for property improvement.

Government spending on asylum seekers has been tipped to exceed £1 billion nationally by next year if the numbers coming in to Britain continue at the current rate.