EPPING protesters have “tried to storm” the Bell Hotel while chanting “go home” ahead of a migrant housing court ruling.
The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, has been at the centre of protests after two of its guests were charged with sexual offences.
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Protesters have now tried to storm through a wall of police forming a cordon outside the building, as reported by the Telegraph.
The crowds shouted “go home” and “send them back” this evening as demonstrators set off flares.
“It’s all kicking off. We are so angry. We won’t stop,” one demonstrator told the media outlet.
Lindsey Thompson, 58, added: “We have no choice. This is children’s safety. It’s really scary. It’s a terrifying time.
“Children return next week, and it’s going to be dark. What will happen then? It’s so scary.”
The resident claimed children are not being protected.
She told how fear was sparked after their school warned pupils “need to be careful”.
It comes as Epping Forest District Council last week won a bid at the High Court to block migrants from being housed at the hotel.
The temporary injunction meant that the building has to be cleared of its occupants by September 12.
This sparked several more councils across the UK launching their own battles to remove migrants from local hotels.
Owners Somani Hotels and the Home Office are now seeking permission to appeal against the decision.
The Home Office is also planning to challenge the judge’s decision not to let it intervene in the case.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper made a last-ditch bid to intervene in the battle last month.
Edward Brown KC, for the department, today told the Court of Appeal that accommodating asylum seekers is in the “national interest”.
He also said the housing of migrants at the hotel involved an issue of “critical national infrastructure”.
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The lawyer added: “There is a national interest in ensuring vulnerable individuals, namely asylum seekers, are accommodated.”
Mr Brown also claimed that kicking the migrants out may actually spark further protests.
The court was also told “large numbers” of asylum seekers are left “potentially destitute” if the decision goes ahead.
Epping Council brought the original case to court claiming Somani Hotels breached planning rules as the site is not being used for its intended purpose as a hotel.
Robin Green, representing the local authority, said today the council was forced into action when the situation became “intolerable”.
This was after a number of mass protests in the area – including one that saw some demonstrators clash with cops.
Outrage began when Hadush Kebatu, who was being housed at the Bell Hotel, was arrested and later charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Kebatu, 41, stood trial this week accused of targeting the teen just eight days after arriving in the UK on a rubber dinghy.
He also allegedly tried to kiss her and told her he wants her babies, as well as a separate charge of sexually assaulting an adult woman.
Kebatu has denied the offences and said he was “not an animal”.
Another man who was living at the site, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has separately been charged with seven offences – including sexual assault.
The hotel previously housed migrants from May 2020 to March 2021, then from October 2022 to April 2024.
Essex Police issued a Section 60AA order amid the protest this evening.
It will ban the wearing of face coverings, and is in force from 2pm on Thursday until 2am Friday.
Chief Supt Leighton Hammett added: “Recent protests outside the hotel have passed off peacefully, with no issues.
“However, during a demonstration on Sunday officers observed some people wearing balaclavas and other face coverings in an attempt to conceal their identity.
“There was also a small group of people who we don’t believe have attended earlier protests who displayed hostility and confrontational behaviour, which we’ve not seen in previous demonstrations.
“We want to make sure anyone attending and wanting to protest peacefully and lawfully is able to do so safely, which is why we’re putting this order in place. This order gives our officers the power to direct someone wearing a face covering to remove it or face arrest.”
Nearly 28,000 people have arrived in the UK so far in 2025 after crossing the English Channel.
Record 111,000 migrants claimed asylum last year
It comes after it was revealed that a record number of people claimed asylum in the UK in the last year – with a massive 32,000 currently living in taxpayer-funded hotels.
Home Office data shows that 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025 up 14 per cent on last year.
It is higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 which was set in 2002.
The number of people claiming asylum in this country has almost doubled since 2021.
And just under half of all those applying for protection in the UK are granted it at the initial decision stage – 48 per cent.
It is lower than in 2022 when 77 per cent of those applying were given the green light.
Half of all those came via irregular routes – such as on a small boat or in the back of a lorry – while 37 per cent claimed asylum after previously arriving on a valid visa.
In the year up to March, the UK was the fifth biggest recipient of asylum seekers in the UK after Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
The sky-high figures come as the number of migrants being housed in hotels has INCREASED since Labour came into power.
A total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government up 8 per cent on the same point 12 months ago.
It comes after it was revealed that a record number of people claimed asylum in the UK in the last year – with a massive 32,000 currently living in taxpayer-funded hotels.
Home Office data shows that 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025 up 14 per cent on last year.
It is higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 which was set in 2002.
The number of people claiming asylum in this country has almost doubled since 2021.
And just under half of all those applying for protection in the UK are granted it at the initial decision stage – 48 per cent.
It is lower than in 2022 when 77 per cent of those applying were given the green light.
Half of all those came via irregular routes – such as on a small boat or in the back of a lorry – while 37 per cent claimed asylum after previously arriving on a valid visa.
In the year up to March, the UK was the fifth biggest recipient of asylum seekers in the UK after Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
The sky-high figures come as the number of migrants being housed in hotels has INCREASED since Labour came into power.
A total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government up 8 per cent on the same point 12 months ago.
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