Sailors assigned to barge housing despite Labour's "prison ship" warning

Royal Navy sailors are to be housed on a barge despite Labour warnings that such vessels are "not fit for human habitation". Naval chiefs have leased the 100-room, Dutch-flagged Sans Vitesse to provide temporary accommodation while HMS Queen Elizabeth, the fleet's flagship aircraft carrier, undergoes repairs at Rosyth in Fife.

The move, reveald by The Sun, follows the Government's decision to axe plans to house asylum seekers on a similar vessel, the Bibby Stockholm, moored in Dorset, after it was branded a "miserable and dangerous prison ship". MPs warned that using barges instead of hotels for asylum accommodation could breach human rights law.

"These crowded conditions were clearly contributing to a decline in mental health for some of the residents, and they could amount to violations of the human rights of asylum seekers," said Dame Diana Johnson MP, chair of the Home Affairs Committee.

The SansVitesse has previously served as crew accommodation for the NordStream1 pipeline in Lubmin, Germany.

However, senior Navy sources defended the plan, stressing that only a small team will be housed on the barge - primarily fire crews required to be within two minutes of the carrier while it is in dry dock.

"We've used a barge before," said one naval source. "More recently we had accommodation alongside, but those properties have since been condemned."

An MoD spokesperson added: "Ministers have asked for other options. We will ensure accommodation is suitable."