Some of the first group of asylum seekers have boarded the Bibby Stockholm barge with more arrivals expected today, Sky News understands.

Around 50 people were expected to move on to the vessel, docked in Portland Port in Dorset, on Monday after weeks of delays to the controversial plan.

The Bibby Stockholm is one of a number of alternative sites the Home Office is using to end reliance on expensive hotels for asylum seekers, which the government says is costing £6m a day.

But there has been considerable local opposition due to concerns about the asylum seekers’ welfare and the impact on local services.

Protesters gathered at Portland Harbour on Monday with welcome packs containing toiletries and contact details of organisations offering support to migrants.

Care4Calais claimed it had stopped around 20 asylum seekers from various locations from boarding the barge, including people who have disabilities, people who have had traumatic experiences crossing the sea and victims of torture and modern slavery.

The charity said it will continue working with asylum seekers who don’t want to be moved into the accommodation.

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The 222-bedroom barge will ultimately hold 500 single males with numbers expected to increase gradually.

Downing Street suggested Home Office minister Sarah Dines misspoke when she said earlier on Monday that the accommodation could reach full capacity by the end of the week.

Asked about the comment, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are looking to (reach) that number over time – I don’t think we are aiming to do it by the weekend.”

Earlier, Miss Dines told Sky News the barge “sends a forceful message” that people who cross the Channel will be housed in accommodation that is “proper…but not luxury” – claiming hotels are part of the “pull” factor attracting people to the UK.

But critics say the plan will not act as a deterrent and the government should focus on reducing the backlog of asylum casees.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said: “It seems there’s nothing this government won’t do to make people seeking asylum feel unwelcome and unsafe in this country.

“Reminiscent of the prison hulks from the Victorian era, the Bibby Stockholm is an utterly shameful way to house people who’ve fled terror, conflict and persecution.”

He added that “rather than wrecking the asylum system”, the government “should fairly and efficiently determine people’s claims instead of perpetuating costly backlogs, human misery and organised criminal exploitation”.

Alongside the barge, the government wants to house people in military sites and marquees.

Multiple reports have also suggested the government is re-visiting plans for a processing centre in Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean if the long-touted Rwanda deportation scheme is not successful in the courts.

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Ms Dines would not confirm or deny the plan but said the government was “looking at all options”.

However, Labour has said alternative accommodation should not be necessary, calling on the government to get a grip of the backlog of asylum applications which are over 100,000.

This week is the government’s unofficial “small boats week”, where it wants to talk about its efforts to get a grip on the number of people crossing the English Channel on a small boat.

Total arrivals so far for 2023 stand at 15,071, which is 15% down on last year, the latest figures suggest.

However that is significantly higher than the 10,703 arrivals that had been detected at this point in 2021.