An Essex town is bracing itself for further unrest after protesters marched to the local council building where the closure of two controversial migrant hotels is being debated.
The Bell Hotel in Epping has become the focus of anger against asylum seekers after one of its guests was charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls just days after arriving in Britain.
News spread quickly on social media and Epping has endured several protests in the last fortnight, with one ending in violence as rioters jumped up on down on the roof of a police van and thugs smashed their windows.
This afternoon metal fencing was delivered to the beleaguered hotel on the back of a flatbed truck, in a seeming drive to beef up the building’s defences.
Police in riot gear were spotted forming a barrier around The Bell, lining both sides of the road, with a canine team also present.
Protesters have planned to march from The Bell to Epping Forest District Council, where a meeting is taking place to discuss a motion calling for the immediate and permanent closure of the Bell Hotel and Phoenix Hotel.
The later was reportedly the target of an alleged arson attack on March 28. It is believed the meeting to close the two hotel’s pre-dated the protests this month.
A dispersal order has also been issed by police in Epping following the demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel earlier this month.
The order, which is in place from 2pm today until 8am tomorrow, covers an area including the town centre and transport hubs such as the Underground station.
Police said there would be a ban on anyone wearing face coverings under Section 60aa of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, with anyone obscuring their face facing arrest.
Officers have also created designated sitesfor protestors opposite The Bell Hotel which have their own designated entry and exit routes.
There will also be designated sites close to the Civic Centre, where the council is based, but police warned that protestors will not be able to return to The Bell Hotel.
A curfew is also in place, with all ‘protest activity’ ordered to cease by 10pm on Thursday 24 July 2025.
Since the disorder began earlier this month, protests have spread to other parts of the country, with more than 150 gathering outside The Park Hotel, in Diss, Norfolk on Monday after the Home Office announced plans to change it from housing asylum-seeker families to single men.
Ethiopian aslyum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with a number of sexual offences only days after arriving on these shores.
He was arrested by officers on July 8 after reports of a man acting inappropriately towards a number of people.
Kebatu appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 10 July and denied all offences.
On July 17 Kebatu was charged with three counts of sexual assault, as well as one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and one count of harassment without violence.
Lindsey, 58, said: ‘I’ve been in Epping for 17 years and my daughter goes to the school behind here (the hotel) and also the same school where the poor girl was attacked.
‘We have been uncomfortable. There are 140 men who are there. This is a small town, people talk and hear stuff all the time. In big cities those things can get flushed away and airbrushed out but here we hear more.
‘And we are terrified. Ive been here everyday and we are just mums in sundresses, facing up against police in masks and weapons.
‘At this point the hotel needs to be closed. And the people sent somewhere where they are not free to roam around before they can be vetted.
‘People think this is only about racism but it has nothing to do with race. You can be whatever colour, they could be Scottish people in there but until we know who is in our town they are not welcome. They must be vetted.’
Hazel, who has lived in Epping for 21 years, said: ‘I want them out. It’s just ridiculous. I have grandchildren. I have a 10-year-old grandson.
‘Its absolutely vile what’s happening – you can just see what happened to that girl. It’s happening all over the country.
‘They are coming over by the thousands on boats and they are all young men.
‘There must be an agenda with the government to keep them there. They need to stop it now. I hope we are listened to.
‘I hope they remove them and don’t place them in another community. Send them back.’
Becci, 41, who has lived in Epping for five years, compared her struggle to get on the council housing list with the process for finding accommodation for migrants.
She said: ‘No disrespect to them I cant even get on the council list and I’m paying rent that’s extortionate.
‘But if I come here from France on a boat, on a dinghy, I get put in a hotel, I mean look at Canary Wharf. We can’t even afford a night out there, it’s crazy.
‘It’s the government doing this to us. I would still be doing this if they were all white. I dont care if you are pink, blue or green, I would still be doing this. It’s not that at all.
‘I have seen them coming and going and they aren’t nice people. It doesn’t feel safe, you are scared of everything, I don’t even want to take my kids to the park. They get all of this for nothing and they treat it like it’s nothing.’
Speaking at a tense council meeting, Reform UK’s Jaymey McIvor said: ‘It is a real shame that more members from this chamber couldn’t be at the protests in person.
‘The people of Epping are worried, they are scared, and they want to know they are being listened to.
‘I’ve can’t solve this problem, none of us can, this is years and years of mismanagement of our country’s borders which has necessitated the use of hotels to accomodate unvetted men. This is about women’s safety.
‘Violence against police officers is unacceptable, violence against anybody is unacceptable, damaging public property or forcing local businesses to close is unacceptable.
‘I don’t support the notion that all the mums and business owners are far-right thugs. I will call out the far-left thuggery which was bussed to The Bell Hotel and caused undue agitation.’
The claim that far-left counter-protesters were ‘bussed’ to the July 17 protest by Essex Police was made by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Farage said in a post on X: ‘This video proves Essex Police transported left-wing protesters to the Bell Hotel in Epping.’
However, Essex Police emphatically denied the claim on Wednesday.
Chief Council of Essex, BJ Harrington said: ‘What has been unacceptable has been the people who have come to Epping and committed violence.
‘Who have attacked people who work at the hotel- who have attacked officers, who have damaged property and who have caused fear and disruption to the people of Epping.’
A spokesperson for Essex Police said: ‘Officers did provide a foot cordon around protesters on their way to the protest, where they and others were allowed to exercise their right to protest.
‘Later, some people who were clearly at risk of being hurt were also escorted by vehicle away from the area for their safety.
‘To reiterate, we categorically did not drive any counter-protesters to the site on any occasion.’