Residents of a French town have built a concrete wall around an abandoned hotel to stop it being turned into a migrant shelter.

Worried locals in the town of Séméac, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, constructed the 6ft high, 65ft long barricade on Monday morning.

Laurent Teixeira runs local group Collectif Semeac, which built the wall, and says the town is not against welcoming those in need.

Shop owners and locals in the town of Semeac, in southern France, have built a 6ft high, 65ft long concrete wall around a hotel which was due to be turned into a migrant shelter

Residents say they are not opposed to helping those less fortunate, but blasted this project for a lack of transparency and being situated in a residential area

However, Mr Teixeira told Le Fiagro that he does oppose putting the migrant shelter in the middle of a residential area.

He also blasted the 'opacity' of the project, saying it was carried out without consulting locals.

He said: 'Nothing is foreseen for the daily life of these migrants and public structures, such as canteens and schools, are undersized.'

Semeac, which is in southern France, has a population of around 5,000 people. The hotel can be used to house a maximum of 85.

Workers emerged early in the morning to start the construction (pictured), organised by local protest group Collectif Semeac

The hotel, which can house a maximum of 85 people, is one of 61 properties to be bought with public money to house migrants (file image)

The Formule 1 hotel, which was owned by the AccorHotels group, is one of 61 properties to be bought with taxpayer money in order to house migrants.

The keys are officially scheduled to be handed over tomorrow morning, though it is unclear if this will now take place.

More than 110,00 migrants have come to Europe so far in 2017 according to borders agency Frontex, with the vast majority of those landing in Italy.

Italian authorities have begged their European counterparts for help with the crisis, saying other countries must do more to alleviate the burden.