Hundreds of asylum seekers sent to Hull under the government's dispersal programme could be left without a solicitor after the two remaining law firms offering legally aided immigration advice in the city both pulled out, it has emerged.

Youngs Solicitors and Alison McDonald have blamed new funding arrangements - including financial thresholds - imposed by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) for their withdrawal from the system, complaining that they can no longer represent clients properly.

Sole practitioner Alison McDonald said limits on the amount of work that could be done, combined with soaring levels of bureaucracy, had served to make the work unprofitable.

'We were also anxious that it wouldn't be possible to do a proper job for the client - and if we couldn't do a proper job, we didn't want to do it at all,' she explained.

Janice Young, also a sole practitioner, said she was now concerned about how hard-up clients in the area would proceed without legal aid lawyers prepared to take on their cases.

There are currently 900 asylum seekers living in Hull.

'These people are on tiny incomes and are now likely to be unrepresented - that's what it boils down to,' Ms Young warned.

The news follows last week's announcement by leading London firm Ole Hansen that it would not take on any new immigration cases unless radical improvements were made to the system (see [2004] Gazette, 8 April, 1).

Ms Young said other firms in the north were biding their time to see how the changes panned out before deciding whether to continue with immigration work - and were likely to have made their decisions by the end of this month.

Solicitors in the area will then hold a meeting to discuss the situation.

An LSC spokesman said it had contracted Hull Law Centre and two firms in nearby Grimsby to provide immigration services, but admitted that there were now no firms prepared to take on legally aided immigration clients in Hull itself.

LSC immigration head Crispin Passmore said it was working with suppliers overall to ensure that there would be quality services across the country in the long term.

'We are aware of the current supply in Hull and are keen to expand this to meet the legal and advice needs of some of the most vulnerable people in our communities,' he added.

Paula Rohan