A minister has admitted that the Manston asylum processing centre is not operating legally, telling Sky News the government wants to “get a grip” on the situation.

Asked whether he was happy that asylum seekers were being detained illegally, climate minister Graham Stuart told Sky News: “Obviously not. None of us are comfortable with it. We want it tackled, we want to get a grip, that’s exactly what the home secretary is focused on.”

Although Manston is meant to hold 1,600 people, estimates suggested 4,000 were being housed at the facility earlier this week.

Migrants are meant to stay there for a maximum of 24 hours while they’re processed before being sent to hotels or homes, but some have been kept there for as long as a month.

Mr Stuart sought to blame an “unacceptable surge” in small boat crossings for the problem, adding that the “system is struggling to cope”.

“It is not where we want it to be right now and we are simply looking to balance that out, thousands more hotel rooms have been sorted out but it’s unacceptable to the British people and we need to do more to tackle the traffickers in what is an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration,” he added.

The Home Office is facing legal action over conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre – as reports suggest asylum seekers were removed from the site and “abandoned” at London Victoria station.

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Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News that a judicial review is being instituted following reports of severe overcrowding at the centre in Kent, and that he expects Manston will “be returned to a well-functioning and legally compliant site very rapidly”.

In other developments, council chiefs in Kent have warned the county is at “breaking point” as a result of the migrant situation, with the potential for disorder at Manston and the risk of far-right violence.