A council has applied for an injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed at a hotel in Essex which has been the focus of weeks of protests.
Documents lodged at the High Court in London on Tuesday by Epping Forest district council cited “the clear risk of further escalating community tensions and urgency of the need for the present situation to be brought under control”.
The authority is also seeking a declaration that the use of the Bell Hotel in Epping to house asylum seekers is “not akin to use as a hotel, and accordingly not a permitted use for planning purposes”. It asked for a ban to take effect after 14 days if an injunction is granted.
Epping Forest councillors voted unanimously at a meeting on July 24 to call on the Home Office to close the Bell Hotel immediately.
They also called for the phased closure of the Phoenix Hotel in North Weald Bassett.
It followed earlier appeals to the home secretary by Chris Whitbread, the council leader, local MPs, the police and crime commissioner and the leader of Essex county council.
Protests at the Bell Hotel have been going on over several weeks
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HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
However, so far no substantive response has been received from the government, the district council said.
• Over 50,000 migrants have crossed Channel since Labour took office
“The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub we could have closed it down long ago,” Whitbread said.
“So far as the council is aware, there is no criminal record checking of individuals who might only have been in the country a matter of days before being housed at the hotel. There are five schools and a residential care home within the vicinity of the hotel.
“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. This will only increase with the start of the new school year.
“We are frustrated that the Home Office continues not to listen.”
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Epping hotel five times over the past month to demonstrate against its use housing asylum seekers.
As a result, extra police officers have been drafted in from other forces under mutual aid provisions as to support Essex police, according to the Conservative-led council.
The protests began after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault for allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and is in custody awaiting trial later this month.
Whitbread said: “We are doing this on behalf of our local community. We are a small district council. We have tried to help the Home Office see the situation cannot go on, but central government is not listening.
“We should not have to take this fight to the High Court, but we are left with no choice. It is now up to the judge.”
The Home Office was approached for comment.