Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre is located in

Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow Airport and close to the Berkshire county border. The village has no railway st ...

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is a London borough in Greater London, England. It forms part of outer London and West London, being the westernmost London borough. It was formed in 1965 from the districts of Hayes and Harlington Urban Distr ...

. Colnbrook, adjacent to

Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre is an immigration detention facility in Harmondsworth, London Borough of Hillingdon, near London Heathrow Airport run by Mitie. Harmondsworth neighbours the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre. It h ...

and

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...

, houses only males. Colnbrook, which opened in August 2004, is built to Class B prison standards, making it one of the highest security immigration removal centres in the United Kingdom alongside Brook House. Colnbrook has 308 bed spaces. The building was officially opened by

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

, who was then Immigration Minister, in September 2004. The building's location is in the area planned for demolition as part of the

expansion of Heathrow Airport The expansion of Heathrow Airport is a series of proposals to add to the runways at London's busiest airport beyond its two long runways which are intensively used to serve four terminals and a large cargo operation. The plans are those present ...

. The design of the centre is modelled on a high security, Category B criminal prison with wings running into a central area. Each cell is designed to hold two detainees. There is a toilet built into the cell. The centre is operated by

Mitie Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The ...

who also operate

. Colnbrook detains people who are due for removal from the UK due to inadequate right to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom and this may include foreign-national prisoners who have completed their sentences in UK prisons and who are detained pending removal from the country. The centre offers detainees a range of activities whilst they are waiting for deportation including a library, multi-faith worship facilities, education provision, gym and sports activities, and a shop.

References

External links

*
Mitie – Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC)

Inspection report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (2022)
Immigration detention centres and prisons in England Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hillingdon Private prisons in the United Kingdom 2004 establishments in England {{England-struct-stub

See also

References

External links