ASYLUM seekers are welcome in Bolton say community leaders after it was claimed the town has a high influx of immigrants.

The borough features on a new map drawn up by the Government showing Bolton as home to speakers of 18 different ethnic languages, including Kurdish, Urdu, Polish and Swalhili.

The map is used by the Home Office to send asylum seekers to areas of Britain which speak their language.

Jason Travis, chairman of the Sukula Family Must Stay Campaign, however, said the increased number of people from different backgrounds was having a positive impact on the borough.

He said: "Overall, studies show Britain benefits from immigration. In Bolton the council has been very proactive in providing for asylum seekers and refugees. The overall net effect is that we benefit from skills, labour and culture."

Mr Travis' campaign, which is backed by the Bolton Evening News, is fighting for the right of the Sukula family, who escaped from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, to remain living in Great Lever.

Their claim for asylum has been rejected and their benefits stopped.

There are currently around 600 asylum seekers and refugees in Bolton with around 300 living in council properties.

In 2004, Bolton Council became the second local authority in the UK to accept 83 refugees from war-torn Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the Gateway Protection Programme.

And last year, the council initiated the Time Together mentoring scheme which offers refugees local support in preparing CVs, practising English and even grasping the rules of football.

A council spokesman said: "Asylum seekers are situated across different parts of the borough so that ghettos do not start to form.

"We are also in regular contact with the Home Office on the issue of suitability of placements for asylum seekers."