‘Not in our village’: asylum camp rumours prompt fear and night vigils in East Sussex

Protesters outside Crowborough training camp, where the government says no decision has been made to house up to 540 ‘single adult male’ asylum seekers. Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

Among the crowded shelves of Sacred Heart hardware store in Crowborough, there is a gap on the wall where the kitchen knives used to be displayed.

As the local rumour of recent days goes, that space is linked to the news story of the moment in the East Sussex town: the imminent arrival of hundreds of asylum seekers at a nearby military training camp.