Asylum seekers housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping face being moved within a fortnight after a High Court judge granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction blocking the site’s use for migrant accommodation.
The ruling, handed down on Tuesday afternoon, rejected a government bid to delay proceedings and ordered that the Bell Hotel be cleared of its current occupants within 14 days.
The decision follows weeks of tension in the town, including protests outside the hotel after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, an asylum seeker staying at the site, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. He denies the allegation and is due to stand trial later this month.
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Council arguments
Representing the council, Philip Coppel KC told the court that the hotel’s use for asylum housing was a breach of planning rules and had caused “great anxiety” to local residents.
He said: “The problem is getting out of hand… The hotel is no more a hotel [to asylum seekers] than a borstal to a young offender.”
The council’s case rested on the argument that the building was not being used for its intended purpose as a commercial hotel.
