- Do YOU have a story? Please email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk
A ring of steel is being set up around a four-star hotel that’s been converted to house migrants, following sweeping protests this week.
Large barriers have been installed outside The Britannia International Hotel in London‘s Canary Wharf this morning.
It comes after fiery scenes following a major rally by anti-migrant activists outside the swanky London hotel – where rooms can go for up to £425 a night.
Guards kitted out in black uniforms and wearing face masks were seen behind the barriers this morning.
The protective measures have been installed amid fresh fears of further protests today and into the weekend over the conversion of the hotel into asylum seeker accommodation.
Anti-migrant protesters claim the wall has been built to keep them away from the hotel entrance after yesterday’s rally, which saw them clashing with police.
The venue was taken over by the Home Office as Britain braces itself for a potential surge in illegal migrants crossing the Channel in the summer.
The decision for the four-star city building to house asylum seekers has been branded an ‘insult’, with some residents and local business owners saying they fear for their safety.
Large barriers have been set up around the four-star Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf
It comes after the venue was turned into a migrant hotel, sparking fierce protests last night
Workers spent yesterday hauling beds and mattresses into a four-star hotel in Canary Wharf after a night of protests in response to Government plans to house migrants there.
Labourers dragging new furniture into the hotel were allowed through the metal fencing and police cordon in preparation for the arrival of ‘hundreds’ of asylum seekers.
Protesters had gathered outside the hotel amid reports asylum seekers were being transferred from Epping, where trouble had previously broken out, to the capital, although the Home Office later clarified this was not the case.
Tower Hamlets Council did, however, confirm the Government intends to use the hotel – which has around 500 rooms – for asylum seekers in a move which has angered anti-migrant protesters and guests whose bookings have been cancelled.
Canary Wharf became the site of the latest anti-migrant protest, with Sir Keir Starmer warned Britain could face a second ‘summer of riots’ if Labour fails to get a grip on such hotels being used amid rising public anger.
It follows a string of violent demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel, in Epping after an asylum seeker was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl eight days after arriving in the UK.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
