A hotel in Epping has been the focus of protests in recent days.
Police walk next to protesters outside in Epping, Essex (Image: PA)
Asylum seekers must be removed from a hotel in Epping, the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has insisted after days of angry protests. Roger Hirst wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, warning that the Bell Hotel was “unsuitable” for housing migrants and insisting their presence was “clearly creating community tension”.
In a letter sent two days ago, he requested a meeting to discuss the site’s “unsuitability,” but he has yet to receive a response. He said: “The presence of asylum seeker accommodation in this district is clearly creating community tension.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex (Image: BBC)
In remarks reported by The Telegraph, Mr Hirst explained: “These large-scale protests are disrupting local life and placing an unwelcome burden on Essex Police resources.”
Police geared up for further disorder on Thursday evening but the demonstration outside the hotel passed largely peacefully, with just one arrest and no counter-protesters present.
The unrest began after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old asylum seeker from Ethiopia, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Mr Kebatu denied the charge at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last week.
Police later came under fire after claims they escorted counter-protesters from the group Stand Up To Racism to the hotel, where violent clashes broke out. The force has denied the claim.
A total of 16 arrests have been made in connection with disorder around the hotel. Officers said some migrants had been harassed, advised to remain indoors after 5pm, and in one case, chased and injured. The hotel itself has been daubed with graffiti and had windows smashed.
Protesters returned to the site on Thursday evening, chanting “save our kids” before heading to Epping Forest District Council’s offices, where councillors voted in favour of shutting the hotel.
A letter read aloud at the meeting, said to be from the father of the alleged victim, warned: “It’s not fair that the Government are putting our children and grandchildren at risk, even their own.”
The Home Office denied reports that migrants would be moved to the Britannia Hotel in London Canary Wharf, where protests are expected today, from Epping.
Security fencing has been installed around the site, and delivery of mattresses and other supplies has added to speculation of arrivals of migrants.
Meanwhile, another hotel in Diss, Norfolk, has threatened to close if the Home Office begins placing single adult males at the property rather than families.
Protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, believed to be housing asylum seekers (Image: PA)
Ben-Julian Harrington, Chief Constable of Essex Police, has ruled out resigning despite criticism of his force’s handling of the protests, having faced scathing criticism from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Tiff Lynch, head of the Police Federation, warned the unrest in Epping was a “signal flare” of what could be a long summer. She said police resources were being stretched and voiced fears of a repeat of last year’s riots.
The Home Office said contingency plans had been “strengthened” to allow rapid deployment of specially-trained officers in case of future disorder.
Ms Cooper said: “We inherited a broken asylum and immigration system… but it takes time to tackle that broken system.”
She added: “It’s really important that people support our police rather than just attacking them continually, as we’ve seen from Reform.”