Epping

Asylum seekers are due to be removed from an Essex hotel after a council was granted a temporary High Court injunction blocking them from being housed there.

The injunction was sought by Epping Forest District Council to stop migrants being placed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which is owned by Somani Hotels Limited.

Thousands of people have protested near the hotel in recent weeks after an asylum seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the town.

Mr Justice Eyre made his judgement after refusing an 11th-hour effort from Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to get the council’s case dismissed.

Asylum seekers must be moved out of the hotel by 16:00 BST on 12 September, the judge ruled.

All 80 rooms at the hotel are seemingly occupied and, as of last month, it was home to about 140 men.

The Home Office had warned the decision would “substantially impact” its ability to house asylum seekers in hotels across the UK.

Protests staged outside The Bell Hotel have been attended by both people against its use for asylum seekers and those in support of migrant rights.

But Conservative council leader Chris Whitbread said the repeated demonstrations were escalating tensions in the area and risked causing “irreparable harm”.

Reacting to the court ruling, he added: “The last few weeks have placed an intolerable strain on our community but today we have some great news.

“We have seen the protests that started off quite violently become peaceful protests, run by the people of Epping Forest.

“What I call upon the residents tonight is if they decide to go outside The Bell Hotel, don’t protest, don’t over-celebrate. This is the beginning. It is not the end.”

A small crowd had gathered outside the hotel on Tuesday evening.

Sixteen people have been charged with offences relating to disturbances during several protests, which Essex Police said became violent on occasion.

Representing the council, Philip Coppel KC agreed some protests “have unfortunately been attended by violence and disorder”.

He said Somani Hotels “did not advise or notify the local planning authority” to seek its views on the use of the site which he argued was not a hotel in the usual sense any more.

He told the court it was “no more a hotel than a borstal [was] to a young offender”.

Lawyers for the hotel and home secretary confirmed in court they wished to appeal against the injunction before a full hearing was listed in the autumn.

It followed a failed last-minute attempt by the Home Office to get the case dismissed.

Edward Brown KC, for the government, said any injunction could lead to other councils making similar applications.

“That would aggravate the pressures on the asylum estate,” he added.

The council’s win comes three years after a string of judgments in similar cases in which judges refused to intevene.

However, Epping Forest told the court last Friday that its case was different because use of the hotel had become a public safety risk, as well as a breach of planning law.

In his judgement Mr Justice Eyre said: “Although the defendant’s [Somani Hotels Limited] actions were not flagrant or surreptitious they were deliberate.

“The defendant acted in good faith but chose to take its stand on the position that there was no material change of use.

“The defendant did so in the knowledge the claimant, as local planning authority, took a different view and believed that permission was necessary.

“It thereby sidestepped the public scrutiny and explanation which would otherwise have taken place if an application for planning permission or for a certificate of lawful use had been made.”

Imram Hussain, from the Refugee Council, said: “We think asylum seekers should not be in hotels – there are cheaper, better ways of supporting people and we think the government should end the use of hotels as fast as it can.”

He said such migrants should be in “dispersal accommodation around the country”, as it was more cost-effective and it wanted the government to “work with local authorities to go back to that kind of system and not use hotels”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage welcomed the ruling and said: “This community stood up bravely, despite being slandered as far right, and have won.”

His deputy leader, Richard Tice, said his party would look at pursuing similar cases for hotels within the 10 council areas it controls, which included both North and West Northamptonshire councils, Doncaster, and Kent and Staffordshire county councils.

Angela Eagle, Border Security Minister, said: “This government inherited a broken asylum system; at the peak there were over 400 hotels open.

“We will continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns. Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.

“We will carefully consider this judgment.”

Protests began outside The Bell after 41-year-old Hadush Kebatu, from Ethiopia, was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

He denied the offences and remained in custody ahead of a two-day trial, due to begin next Tuesday.

A second man, living at the same hotel, Mohammed Sharwarq, 32, a Syrian national, has been charged with two counts of common assault and four of assault by beating – concerning four complainants.

Following a hearing before magistrates in Chelmsford, he was remanded into custody.

The BBC understands the alleged offences took place within The Bell Hotel.

A council has voted unanimously to urge the government to close a hotel housing asylum seekers after a series of public demonstrations.

The number of people arrested after unrest outside the Bell Hotel in Epping has risen to 17 – in the wake of several protests since 13 July.

At a packed and often heated public meeting on Thursday, the Conservative leader of Epping Forest District Council, Chris Whitbread, said: “I am concerned that our residents’ peaceful protests are being infiltrated on the extremes of politics.”

A large group of people gathered outside the council offices during the meeting – and a “peaceful” protest was taking place at the Bell Hotel, police said.

Whitbread told the meeting: “I’m worried that Epping will become a focus and a battleground for the agendas of those extremist groups and they will continue to stoke tensions as part of their wider campaigns.”

During the meeting, protesters wearing England flags and union jacks draped over their backs stood behind fencing erected outside the hotel.

Earlier in the day the force warned that people who wore face coverings would be asked to remove them and those who refused would be arrested.

Essex Police later confirmed one person was arrested for wearing a face covering at the hotel, but the protest had been peaceful. This was the 17th arrest in total.

Ch Supt Simon Anslow said: “I want to thank those who are attending today and protesting peacefully.

“We won’t tolerate anyone thinking they can come and cause trouble or breach the orders we’ve put in place to keep people safe. My message is clear – we will deal with you.”

Action has been staged at the hotel since a man living there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and remains on remand in custody.

Whitbread added: “The majority of Epping residents are peaceful while concerned that lasting harm is being done to our community.

“Since it was first occupied during the pandemic this council has consistently maintained this hotel is the wrong location.

“It is occupied often by vulnerable people and there are not the facilities here to support them.”

During the meeting, Conservative councillor Holly Whitbread spoke critically of councillors who had encouraged or taken part in protests.

While supporting the motion, she said: “I would never knowingly stand next to neo-Nazis, which is what a member in this chamber did on Sunday.

“My grandad fought in a war against these people. I think quite frankly anyone who stands side by side with them should hang their head in shame.”

Fellow Conservative councillor Shane Yerrell urged the council not to make assumptions about protesters.

“It is not fair for anyone turning up at the protest to be branded a racist or a Nazi,” he said.

He closed his submission by reading a statement from the father of the alleged victim of sexual assault, which received a standing ovation from the chamber and the public gallery.

While supporting the motion, Jaymey McIvor, for Reform UK, said it was a “great shame” more councillors had not visited the protests.

He said: “The people of Epping are worried, they’re scared. And what they want in that scenario is to be listened to.”

McIvor went on to repeat claims, refuted by Essex Police, that “far left thuggery were escorted to the Bell Hotel” – to which several other members shouted responses including “fake news” and “misinformation”.

The rest of McIvor’s statement condemned violence and called for the closure of the hotel, as he returned to his seat he was greeted with a standing ovation from people in the public gallery.

Liberal Democrat councillor Janet Whitehouse, who is Epping Town mayor, provided some support and sympathy with asylum seekers, saying: “We don’t know the situation of the people placed there.

“It’s very sad that the picture of Epping being seen nationally and internationally is one of violence.”

Of the 17 arrested, six people have been charged with offences including violent disorder, criminal damage and refusing to remove a face covering.

A dispersal order was imposed until 08:00 BST on Friday in response to further planned protests.

It gave officers extra powers to direct people to leave the area or face arrest.

Reaction from Epping residents has been divided, with some feeling the protests are justified while others told the BBC they felt uncomfortable.

A 53-year-old man called Jason, who declined to share his surname, said the protests had been “a long time coming”.

He continued: “I don’t think the violence is justified. I don’t think that the police help the situation by going in mob handed but they’ve got to do their job.

“People are angry, so they’re going to react. I think the people here are justified in being angry.”

Supermarket worker Tilly Nelson argued that social media had fuelled some of the protesting, helped spread misinformation and turned the protests into an event.

She said: “It’s like a social gathering to come together to put their mask on and have a go at the police.”

The 20-year-old said she had only positive interactions with some of the men who live at the hotel, who she describes as “the politest people”.

She shared concerns the “narrative has completely changed”.