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LONDON: A UK town applied for a High Court injunction on Tuesday to stop asylum seekers being housed in a local hotel, following protests, some of which turned violent.
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.

PARIS: France on Tuesday condemned “the heavy toll paid by local journalists” in Gaza and called on the Israeli authorities to guarantee “safe and unhindered access” for international media.
On Sunday, five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City. Among the victims was Anas Al-Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28.
A freelance reporter was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team.
Condemning the strike, the French foreign ministry said that the journalists were targeted while “carrying out their reporting duties.”
Israel confirmed it had targeted Sharif, whom it labelled a “terrorist” affiliated with Hamas, saying he “posed as a journalist.”
“Journalists must never be targeted,” Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said in a statement, adding that they were protected by international humanitarian law.
International journalists “must be able to operate freely and independently to document the reality of the conflict,” Confavreux added.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, members of the international press have not been allowed to work freely in the Palestinian territory.
Only a few hand-picked media outlets have been allowed to enter, embedded with the Israeli army, and their reports are subject to military censorship.
Almost 200 journalists have been killed in the war Israel launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters as well as the BBC in July called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza.