24 July 2025, 07:00 | Updated: 24 July 2025, 07:46
Essex Police is set to announce a raft of new restrictions on protests linked to migrant hotels, LBC understands.
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Alamy
Essex Police is set to announce a raft of new restrictions on protests linked to migrant hotels, LBC understands.
In an announcement due later today, the force is expected to say it will ‘noticeably step up’ its approach to policing demonstrations which have seen violence and disorder in recent days.
The changes are likely to be in place before the end of the day.
The chief constable, who yesterday said his officers will police to the law and ensure people can protest where they want to have their say, is due to tell groups they ‘cannot bring Epping to a halt’ while doing so.
Conditions are routinely put on protests to contain disruption and prevent groups with differing views from interacting where there is a risk of violence or intimidation.
Read more: Anti-migrant protesters hurl abuse at police as they descend on four-star Canary Wharf hotel
Read more: Essex Police chief rejects claims of bias and says he won’t resign in wake of migrant hotel protest
In an announcement due later today, Essex Police is expected to say it will ‘noticeably step up’ its approach to policing demonstrations which have seen violence and disorder in recent days.
Picture:
Alamy
They have been used widely in London during weekly marches related to the war in the Middle East.
Among the conditions police forces can consider are:
Location: Limitations on where a protest can be held, with officers dictating an area for a demonstration to be contained to, or to avoid.
Time: Restrictions on when a protest can take place, including a cut off time for crowds to disperse.
Procession: A requirement for protesters to remain static, rather than march through the street, or to follow a pre-agreed route.
Face coverings: A ban on the use of face coverings during a demonstration.
LBC understands Essex Police will warn more arrests will follow if people repeatedly refuse to remove face coverings in their interactions with officers.
In total, 10 arrests have been made following a series of gatherings outside the Bell Hotel in Epping.
Picture:
Alamy
A 34-year-old man has been charged with failing to comply with an order to remove one at a gathering on Sunday and remains on bail until a court hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in September.
In total, 10 arrests have been made following a series of gatherings outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, since asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with sexual assault. He’s alleged to have tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Four men have been charged with violent disorder, following the protests.
Essex Police Chief Constable BJ Harrington told a news conference yesterday that claims his officers ‘bussed’ counter demonstrations to a protest at the site were ‘categorically wrong’, after calls from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage for him to resign over it.
Instead, he said people were taken away from the protest “for their safety, for the safety of everyone there, because it was the best operational thing to do to prevent violence, to defuse the situation, we drove them away from a violent confrontation”.
The force’s announcement later today, is expected to further address ‘deliberate misinformation’ being spread about its response to demonstrations so far.