Anti-migrant demonstrators faced off against anti-racism counter-protesters this evening outside a hotel on the south coast used to house asylum seekers.
Protesters gathered outside the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, Hampshire, on August 1, waving flags and calling for the hotel’s closure.
Anti-migrant demonstrations have taken place across the South of England today, in locations including Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth.
All the protests are taking place at locations where the government are housing migrants while their asylum applications are processed.
In Southsea, counter-protesters from Stand Up to Racism Portsmouth staged an event at the same location, holding signs reading ‘Refugees welcome’.
The day of protests on the south coast follows similar recent unrest in Epping, where a series of demonstrations have taken place calling for the closure of The Bell Inn, a hotel used on and off for the last five years as accommodation for asylum seekers.
A ring of steel was also erected around The Britannia International Hotel, a luxury four-star lodging in London’s Canary Wharf that has been converted to house migrants, following sweeping protests.
An Epping-style protest to stop migrants being housed above a town’s shops took to the streets on Wednesday in Waterlooville, Hampshire – as thousands of locals warned of ‘mayhem’ if the plans go ahead.
SOUTHSEA: Protesters wave flags as they call for the Royal Beach Hotel to be closed to asylum seekers
SOUTHSEA: Protesters gather outside the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, which is currently undergoing building work to turn it into housing
SOUTHSEA: Anti-migrant demonstrators face off against protesters from Stand Up to Racism outside the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, Hants, this evening, Friday 1st August 2025.
SOUTHSEA: Counter-protesters from Stand Up to Racism Portsmouth staged an event at the same location ‘to show friendship and solidarity with refugees’
The Southsea protests follow on from two previous similar demonstrations last month.
The event on July 26 was peaceful, with officers able to remain between the two sets of protesters and no incidents reported to police.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: ‘The protest was peaceful and passed without any incidents reported to police during the event.
‘Our priority with protests is always public safety.
‘Policing these events requires us to balance the rights of those lawfully protesting, and the rights of others to go about their lives without being subject to unacceptable disruption, whilst keeping the public safe.’
However, an earlier event saw a 64-year-old man arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and another man, 40, arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order, Portsmouth News reported.
Hampshire Police were also forced to put a dispersal order in place to stop the protest spiralling into violence.
An anti-migrant protester speaks to the crowd through a megaphone
Protesters line up across the street from the Royal Beach Hotel
