(Reuters) – A British local authority on Tuesday lost its bid to have asylum seekers removed from a hotel after a resident was charged with sexual assault, an incident which sparked months-long anti-immigration protests.
Epping Forest District Council took legal action to try to stop asylum seekers being housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping, in the county of Essex, about 20 miles north of London.
The council had sought an injunction from London’s High Court, on the grounds that the hotel’s owner did not have planning permission to use it to accommodate asylum seekers.
But the injunction application was opposed by Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry), which argued that removing asylum seekers could have a substantial impact on the government’s ability to comply with its legal duty to provide accommodation.
Judge Tim Mould said in a summary of his ruling that the current use of the Bell Hotel “requires planning permission and is, therefore, in breach of planning control”.
But the judge refused to grant an injunction, saying in particular that the “continuing need to source contingency accommodation for asylum seekers from hotels… carries significant weight”.
The Bell Hotel became the focus of protests after the arrest of Ethiopian asylum seeker in July for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, who was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 12 months in jail.
The protests at the Bell Hotel, some of which were violent and have led to criminal convictions for disorder, took place against a backdrop of rising concern over immigration.
