A hotel where dozens of asylum-seeking children have been kidnapped should be “shut down”, a councillor has said.

An Observer investigation revealed that children at a hotel in Hove are being trafficked as far away as Manchester and Scotland.

A source who works for Home Office contractor Mitie told the newspaper: “Children are literally being picked up from outside the building, disappearing and not being found.

“They’re being taken from the street by traffickers.”

The whistleblower also claimed children were being taken from a similar hotel in Kent, estimating that ten per cent of its youngsters disappeared each week.

The Observer claims that around 600 unaccompanied children have passed through the hotel in the last 18 months, with 136 reported missing. About 79 of these children remain unaccounted for, the newspaper said.

Councillor Bella Sankey, Labour councillor for Wish ward, raised the issue at a council meeting earlier this month.

Cllr Sankey, who previously served as director of immigration charity Detention Action, said on Twitter: “After the scandal of grooming in Rochdale, it is sickening to see young people being left to the wolves once again while those responsible for their protection look the other way.

“The hotel must be closed down and unaccompanied children placed straight into foster care.”

In a post on Twitter, MP for Hove Peter Kyle described the situation as “horrific”.

He said: “I raised concerns about their security with the Home Office, social services and the police. It was foreseen that children would be snatched, abducted and coerced by criminals.

“I’ve visited the hotel multiple times. My team works tirelessly to ensure these vulnerable children are protected.

“It breaks our hearts that the incompetence of successive Tory Home Secretaries not only left children exposed - it put a target on their backs.”

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said they continue to work with the Home Office, Sussex Police, the NHS and other agencies to ensure children are kept safe while living in the city.

He said: “As a city of sanctuary, we have worked with many brilliant local charities and organisations to ensure children are provided with a warm welcome.

“We have been actively involved when any child is reported missing and have worked with the police and other agencies to try and trace them.

“For many months now, we have been raising with the government our concerns about the Home Office’s use of hotels to accommodate asylum-seeking children.

“Children are being housed in hotels here and elsewhere in the country on a temporary basis by the Home Office before being taken into care by councils throughout the country under the Home Office’s National Transfer Scheme.

“We believe it’s vital that arrangements should be made for the transfer of these children under the NTS as quickly as possible to minimise the length of their stay in hotel accommodation.

“We have made this point to the government.”

Sussex Police have been approached for comment.