More than 12 councils are getting ready to take legal action against the Government regarding the housing of asylum seekers in hotels, despite the Home Office's recent court victory.
On Friday, a High Court injunction which called for the removal of 138 asylum seekers housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping by September 12, was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
However, the reprieve for the Government is believed to only be temporary as other councils look set to follow Epping Forest District Council in taking legal action.
It is understood at least 12 councils are going ahead with legal action.
At least 12 councils are understood to be proceeding with legal action regarding the use of hotels to house asylum seekers
|GETTY
These include at least four Labour-run authorities, including Wirral, Stevenage, Tamworth and Rushmoor councils.
Meanwhile, Epping Forest District Council has said they are considering going to the Supreme Court with its challenge.
A group of pro-bono legal advisers who can help councils with their legal proceedings against the Home Office and migrant hotels has been assembled by the Conservatives.
Tory leader of Broxbourne council, Corina Gander, said the authority had not been put off by the Court of Appeal decision on Friday, and would be going ahead with taking legal action.
MORE REACTIONS TO THE EPPING RULING:
- Raise your glass to Epping mothers. They just sealed Labour's fate in under 24 hours - Adam Brooks
- 'We need to put our own people and children before illegal migrants'
- Epping councillor vows to 'keep fighting' after court's migrant hotel decision
- Mark White's snap reaction to Court of Appeal's Epping hotel decision - 'Bitter blow for locals'
The Home Office argued the safety concerns of communities were outweighed by the need to meet asylum seekers' human rights by housing them in hotels
|GETTY
"The route that we are going down is planning enforcement. So we've issued this week a planning contravention notice, which will give us enough evidence to prove that the hotel is not a hotel, it is effectively a hostel," she told Times Radio.
Spelthorne council in Surrey said there had been "no change" in its plans to pursue legal action, and an emergency meeting had been scheduled for Thursday in order to discuss its next steps.
Other councils, including Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire and Staffordshire, are also considering taking legal action.
Leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, accused the Government of using the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) "against the people of Epping".
PICTURED: A man protesting outside the Court of Appeal
|GETTY
This is because the Home Office argued the safety concerns of communities were outweighed by the need to meet asylum seekers' human rights by housing them in hotels.
Tensions across the country continue to rise as communities show rising concerns over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
Reform UK figure Richard Tice told GB News: "I, along with tens of millions of others, am deeply, deeply concerned about the state of this country."
Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the Prime Minister was "putting the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of the British people" and urged Conservative councils to continue taking legal action about the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.