More than 1,800 people in the UK are set to spend Christmas locked in immigration detention centres, according to government figures.

The finding prompted the Liberal Democrats to brand the government “cruel and callous” and call for a 28-day limit to be introduced on keeping people in detention centres.

According to the latest official statistics, there are currently 1,826 people being held in detention centres. Of these, almost two thirds (1,152) are people seeking asylum in the UK.

Last year, 1,784 people were in immigration detention centres at Christmas.

The vast majority (1,506) of the 1,800 people in detention are being held in Home Office immigration removal centres – while 300 are being detained in prison.

Twenty-seven people have been kept in detention for more than a year, and three people for more than two years. Almost one in 10 have been held for at least six months.

The government has come under fire over its treatment of asylum seekers and other immigrants at detention centres, particularly since the Windrush scandal.

Last year, women at one of the main detention centres, Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire, went on hunger strike in protest at the conditions.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the government’s detention of many asylum seekers was unlawful, paving the way for a slew of new compensation claims against the Home Office that could run to millions of pounds.

Keeping people in immigration detention centres costs the taxpayer £89m a year, and last year the Home Office was forced to pay £8.2m in compensation for 312 cases of wrongful detention.

The overall number of people in immigration detention centres has decreased in recent years, and has more than halved since the end of 2014, when 3,439 people were being held.

Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I can’t face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty

The Liberal Democrats called for a 28-day limit to be imposed on the length of time people can be held in immigration detention centres.

Christine Jardine, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, said: “If we needed any reminder of the cruel and callous nature of the Conservatives, then this is it. Almost two thousand people will spend Christmas separated from their loved ones, as they remain indefinitely imprisoned in a detention centre.

“Locking vulnerable people up with no idea of when they will be released is yet another part of the Conservative government’s toxic and hostile approach to immigration. It is time the Tories gained some humanity and stopped wasting tax payers money on ensuring people spend their Christmas languishing in cells.