Highlights:
- Epping Forest District Council applies for High Court injunction over Bell Hotel use
- Protests began after asylum seeker charged with assaulting a 14-year-old girl
- At least six protests since July, with 28 arrests and 16 charges
- Council cites breach of planning permission and community safety concerns
THE COUNCIL in Epping, northeast of London, has applied for a High Court injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed in a local hotel, following protests, some of which turned violent.
Epping Forest District Council is seeking an interim injunction to prevent the Bell Hotel from accommodating asylum seekers and refugees, citing “the clear risk of further escalating community tensions.”
“The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub we could have closed it down long ago,” council leader Chris Whitbread of the Conservative party said in a statement.
Protests and police action
Protests began in July after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, which he denies. Since then, hundreds of people have joined protests and counter-protests outside the hotel. Anti-immigration demonstrations have also taken place in London and other parts of England.
Police said there have been at least six protests in Epping since July 17, with 28 people arrested and 16 charged in connection with disorder. Police officers and vehicles have been attacked during some protests.
Council’s concerns
The council says the building’s use breaches planning permissions because it is no longer operating as a hotel and is near schools and a care home.
“So far as the council is aware, there is no criminal record checking of individuals ... before being housed at the hotel,” Whitbread said.
“The use by the Home Office of the premises for asylum seekers poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce the number of migrants and asylum seekers in the UK to counter pressure from the Reform UK party. But Whitbread accused the government of “not listening.”
“We should not have to take this fight to the High Court, but we are left with no choice,” he said.
(Agencies)
