A group of MPs have written to the Home Secretary renewing a request to visit the Bibby Stockholm barge at Portland following the death of an asylum seeker on board.

The death of a man who is thought to have taken his own life on the vessel at Portland Port has reignited some MPs desire to visit the barge due to what they claim are ‘major safeguarding concerns’.

Six Labour politicians have signed the letter addressed to the Secretary of State James Cleverly including MP Kim Johnson, MP Clive Lewis, MP Olivia Blake, MP Nadia Whittome, MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle and MSP Paul Sweeny.

The Echo previously reported how MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle was denied access to the barge when he visited Portland in October.

MPs had asked the then Home Secretary Suella Braverman at the time if they would be able to visit the barge to ensure it is a safe living environment.

The new request for a visit in the letter calls for ‘full transparency and access to all places of asylum seeker accommodation’ for MPs, press, legal and support groups’ and calls on the Home Office to meet its obligations to ‘house people in adequate and safe conditions’.

The MPs are also concerned that people who had escaped torture and persecution were ‘increasingly housed in isolated accommodation centres in conditions of quasi-detention with unsatisfactory hygiene, privacy, community and mental health support available to them’.

Government plans to send migrants to Rwanda and the death of the asylum seeker at Portland has left the hundreds of people on board the barge feeling ‘terrified and unsafe’, they claim.

The letter said: “In the wake of the death of one of their cohort, residents of the Bibby Stockholm barge in particular are likely to be feeling even more terrified and alone.

"We fear that this may lead to an escalating mental health situation on the barge, with the potential for more people to feel driven to desperate acts.

"This is a major safeguarding concern for vulnerable people in the care of the state.

“We urge you to grant us permission to visit the barge to meet with residents and assess the conditions they are living in.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office has previously said that the death was a ’tragic incident’ and added ‘the welfare of all those in our care is of the utmost importance, and we take our responsibility for their wellbeing incredibly seriously’.

The letter from MPs follows on from an open letter signed by 65 charities calling for the barge to be closed.

The letter, sent to the Guardian newspaper, says: "The barge is no place to accommodate people who have fled violence, persecution and torture, many of whom are traumatised and isolated. They are unable to get the help and specialist support they need. Their mental health has deteriorated and some have felt suicidal."

Charities including Refugee Action and Refugee Council were named as having signed the letter along with three Labour MPs which included Nadia Whittome, Kim Johnson and Olivia Blake.

The letter added: “It is also vital that the government launches an independent inquiry into the death so that lessons are learned and those responsible are held accountable.

"This country must never again house those who come to our shores seeking safety in such an inappropriate and inhumane place."