The UK will soon be hit by a flood of abuse allegations brought by children held in adult asylum seeker detention centres unless it revises the way it deals with youngsters of disputed age, a leading immigration solicitor warned this week.

Alison Stanley, chairwoman of the Law Society's immigration law committee, said: 'Young people are arriving in the UK claiming to be 17, and immigration officers are simply deciding that they look older - even though any assessment could be from one to five years out.'


A Home Office spokesman said it was open to applicants to submit new evidence of age.