Essex Police has revealed that the cost of policing the series of protests in Epping could reach £1.7 million by the end of October. The demonstrations have centred on the Bell Hotel, where asylum seekers were temporarily housed.
The protests began after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old Ethiopian man who had arrived in the UK on a small boat just days earlier, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman and a teenage girl in July. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 23 September.
Since then, a rolling cycle of demonstrations has put the force under mounting strain. At a meeting of the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel, Police and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst said the financial burden was becoming “a significant drain” on resources.
According to Hirst, officers have been drafted in from other counties – some even travelling from Wales – to maintain order. “It has meant we can continue everyday policing across Essex,” he explained, “but it does come at a price.” Unless costs rise above £4 million, Essex Police must meet the expenditure from within its own budget.
Balancing protest and public order
On 25 September, the force set out new restrictions for protests at the site. Demonstrations were limited to a small area across the road from the hotel, confined to 90 minutes in the early evening, and banned from using loudspeakers or displaying inflammatory banners.
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said the measures were designed to protect both protesters’ rights and local residents’ wellbeing. “We support the right to peaceful protest,” he said, “but that right has to be balanced against people’s ability to live in peace and run their businesses. Reports from residents made clear that the disruption was becoming intolerable.”
Why Epping became a flashpoint
“Concerned citizens” in Epping
The Bell Hotel is an unassuming venue on the edge of Epping, near the M25, M11 and the Central Line. Its location made it a convenient site for the Home Office to use as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers, and equally convenient for protesters travelling from across the country.
Since 2020, the hotel has been contracted on several occasions for asylum housing. Each time, it has attracted demonstrators – many of them linked to far-right groups, according to research by Hope not Hate. The visibility of the site, so close to London, has amplified media attention.
The protests escalated further in August when Epping Forest District Council secured a temporary High Court injunction, arguing that the hotel’s use as long-term accommodation required planning permission. The ruling ordered the removal of asylum seekers from the site until a full hearing in October. That decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, which criticised the lower court for excluding the Home Office from the case.
Residents caught in the middle
Research by More in Common, an organisation founded after the murder of MP Jo Cox, has found Epping residents were unsettled by both the lack of consultation and the tone of the demonstrations.
Some residents said they felt ashamed at the hostility directed at asylum seekers, while others resented outsiders descending on their town. “It’s not a true reflection of the local community,” one resident explained. “It just attracted the wrong people.”
Others described the protests as chaotic and fuelled by extremes on both sides. “Some people treated it like a day out, turning up with beer,” said another. For many locals, the protests felt less about Epping than about broader national arguments over immigration.
A national issue with local consequences
National polling suggests opposition to asylum seekers being housed in hotels has hardened over the past year. More than half the public now oppose the practice, compared with a third in 2023. Yet few people support violence, with only one in ten backing aggressive protest outside hotels or council offices.
At the same time, immigration has surged up the political agenda. Once dominated by cost of living and NHS concerns, polling now shows migration ranks as the most important issue for many voters. Parents in particular highlight fears of sexual violence against women and girls, a theme that parties such as Reform UK have sought to amplify, despite the lack of hard evidence connecting asylum seekers with crime. The Migration Observatory has pointed out there is no statistical link between immigration levels and crime rates.
A test of public trust
The Bell Hotel controversy highlights several tensions: between central government and local councils, between police forces and overstretched budgets, and between communities wanting safety and national politics fanning the flames.
One Epping resident summed up the wider unease: “The protests aren’t really about the hotel. They’re about people’s frustration with the government’s inability to get a grip on immigration. No matter who’s in power, nothing seems to change.”
For Essex Police, the challenge continues. With £1.7 million already committed and protests showing little sign of ending, the force faces a difficult winter. And for Epping, the Bell Hotel has become not just a local planning dispute but a symbol of Britain’s broader struggle to manage asylum, protest, and public confidence all at once.
This article is based on one by Local Democracy Reporting and by Stephen McNair, combined by ChatGPT and edited by East Anglia Bylines.
More from East Anglia Bylines
Download the Bylines app to get our content straight to your phone!