A TASK force will be set up to help hundreds of asylum seekers threatened with being locked out of their homes in Glasgow.

The city council is to work with Third Sector partners and legal charities to offer advocacy and support services to up to 300 people who are facing eviction by Home Office contractor, Serco.

It comes after the public services group said it planned to evict up to 300 people who have been refused refugee status.

Read more: Watch as hundreds of protesters in Glasgow stand up for refugees amid mass eviction threat

Council leader Susan Aitken and chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell have sent a second letter to the Home Secretary asking him to instruct Serco to halt its plans and give the city time to deal with the emerging humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, a lawyer believes that Serco plans to "act unlawfully" over proposed evictions.

Serco - which provides accommodation for asylum seekers on behalf of the Home Office - issued six of those affected with a notice that their locks will be changed within seven days on Monday.

Historically, lock changes have not been used for those who remain in asylum accommodation despite the Home Office ruling they will not be granted refugee status and withdrawing their funding and support.

Mike Dailly, of Govan Law Centre, said his solicitors are working with MPs, the local authority and charities to identify those affected with a view to raising legal proceedings to prevent summary evictions.

Read more: Tenants union urges Glasgow residents oppose mass eviction of asylum seekers by 'any means necessary'

He said: "These are very vulnerable families living in our city and they deserve full legal protection to ensure that due process is being followed. We have a number of our senior lawyers looking at this right now.

"We are convinced that Serco are proposing to act unlawfully. And we will be taking cases before the Scottish courts.

"This is a complex area of law and it's very unlikely vulnerable people can just be summarily evicted in the way Serco propose.

"Scots common law has long since prohibited eviction without due process of law against residential occupiers.

"In Scotland, it is generally necessary to obtain a decree for ejection from the court as opposed to taking the law into you own hands - known as summary eviction or eviction brevi manu - which is generally a criminal offence and a civil wrong."

The lock change plan has sparked condemnation from members of all major political parties, except the Conservatives, with councillors and MPs teaming up to write to the Home Secretary calling for a U-turn, as reported in yesterday's Evening Times.

Read more: Refugees tell of terror at facing eviction from Glasgow homes

The first letter, sent on Monday, warned those evicted are more likely to become homeless than leave the UK and said it risks creating a "humanitarian crisis" in the city, placing people at "imminent risk of significant harm".

Serco said it has been providing housing free of charge and without recompense from the Home Office, in some cases for months, for former asylum seekers with no right to stay in the UK.

The company said it is sympathetic to those affected but believes it has been "more than supportive" and has started legal proceedings for repossession as these residents "no longer have any right to continue to live in the property we provide".