TWO police officers were left with injuries requiring hospital treatment after they were attacked while attending an incident at a hotel housing asylum seekers.

A hotel in the Alston area was used to accommodate asylum seekers for 48 hours this week.

On Wednesday night at 11.50pm (November 9), Cumbria Constabulary received a report of criminal damage by a man at the premises.

A spokeswoman for the force said: "Officers attended the location and a man was restrained and arrested.

"During the incident two officers received injuries requiring hospital treatment."

Mustafa Osman, 27, of no fixed address, was charged with two counts of attempt to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to do grievous bodily harm, criminal damage and affray.

He has been remanded in custody to appear at Carlisle Crown Court on December 9.

A spokesperson for Cumbria County Council said: "The Home Office has now informed us that the hotel in the Alston area is no longer being used to accommodate people seeking asylum.

"We were informed that the hotel had been used for this purpose for 48 hours; these people are no longer on the site.

"We have no further information from the Home Office but have stressed the need to keep local councils informed of their intentions to allow proper planning.

"Further information about how and why hotels are being used to accommodate people seeking asylum in Cumbria can be found at www.cumbria.gov.uk/refugees."

Raymond Miller, chair of Alston Moor Parish Council, said they had not been informed about the arrangement at the hotel.

"We got to know basically the same time as members of the public," he said. "We should be kept in the loop at all levels."

The Home Office said it does not comment on operational arrangements for individual sites used for asylum accommodation.