The council has denied claims by BBC Newsnight it used a Premier Inn hotel to accommodate a young person on remand.

The BBC alleged in a programme on Wednesday, August 17, Richmond Council placed the youth in a Premier Inn in King Street, Hammersmith.

The claim led to former Justice Secretary Jack Straw questioning whether the practice was legal.

The authority has admitted it put a freed defendant in the hotel last month and said it would occasionally use “a variety of types of accommodation with support from out reach workers”.

However, it said the youth was released without charge and was no longer on remand, leaving the council with responsibility.

The council was unable to explain why it used a Premier Inn hotel to house the boy or say whether its capacity at other locations was full.

A spokeswoman for Richmond Council said: “The young person is in council care and, therefore, the council has a responsibility to house him. When the court withdrew all charges and he was free to leave the court, the council had to find somewhere very quickly for him to stay temporarily.

“These were very unusual circumstances. We were given very short notice to find a placement for this young man. We carried out an assessment and choices at the time, regarding a placement were limited.

"He was placed as a temporary measure in the Premier Inn, with appropriate support until a longer term solution was sorted. This happened shortly after.”

Councillor Geoffrey Samuel, deputy leader of Richmond Council, said: “Following a court appearance, the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew all charges and he was free to leave the court.

“There were no outstanding charges, this person was not on bail, nor subject to a statutory court order to Richmond’s youth offending team (YOT) or any other YOT.

“On all occasions where there is a risk to the community, Richmond Council shares the appropriate information with relevant agencies, including the police, within the legal framework for information sharing. The council, as is its usual practice, will review this case to see if there are lessons to be learned.”

The programme asked whether the prison system could cope as the courts remand a huge number of riot offenders in custody.

Premier Inn told the BBC Richmond Council did not make the company aware of the background of any guests that it books in.