Protest-hit UK town bids to empty asylum-seeker hotel
The council in Epping, northeast of London, applied for an interim injunction against the housing of of asylum seekers and refugees at the Bell Hotel, 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,' Epping Forest district council leader Chris Whitbread, from the Conservative party, said in a statement.
Protests broke out in the town 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 taken part in protests and counter-protests outside the Bell Hotel. Further anti-immigration demonstrations also spread to London and around England.
Police said there had been at least six protests in Epping since July 17 and 28 people have been arrested and 16 people charged in connection with disorder.
Police officers and vehicles have been attacked during some protests.
The council is arguing that since the accommodation is not being used as a hotel, it breaches planning permissions, especially due to its proximity to 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 vowed to slash the number of migrants and asylum seekers in Britain to stave off pressure from the hard-right Reform UK party.
But the Epping council leader 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,' said Whitbread.
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