'It's kicking off!' Clashes erupt outside Epping hotel again after Home Office court challenge

The Bell, which houses up to 138 asylum seekers, became a target for fury after news emerged that an Ethiopian migrant housed being there, Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, had been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

At Epping St John's primary school - just half a mile away from the building - locals demanded the hotel to be closed to illegal migrants and for them to be removed from the town.

Lindsey Thompson, 58, told The Telegraph: “We have no choice. This is children’s safety. It’s really scary. It’s a terrifying time.

“Children return next week, and it’s going to be dark. What will happen then?

“It’s so scary. They are not protected. The school warned parents in summer that children need to be careful. We really are so worried.”

Ms Thompson, a few days ago, told GB News that residents were "not natural protesters" but rather "hard-working people - just mums and dads" who had been compelled to take action.

And another demonstrator on Thursday evening told the newspaper: "It's all kicking off. We are so angry. We won't stop."

WATCH: Footage shows arrest of asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu

Last week, Epping Forest District Council requested a High Court judge to issue an injunction to halt migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel as their presence breached local planning laws.

The injunction was granted on Tuesday, which meant that the hotel's owner, Somani Hotels Limited, had until September 12 to stop illegal migrants from staying at the premises.

However, the Home Office launched an appeal against the injunction.

In the Court of Appeal, Home Office lawyers argued the rights of asylum seekers are more important than those of Epping Council - and rested their argument on the controversial ECHR's Article 3.

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On Thursday, Ed Brown KC, representing the Home Office, said it was in "the national interest" to ensure that the asylum seekers are accommodated.

He added: "Epping represents the public interest that subsists in planning control in its local area.

“The [Home Secretary] is taken for these purposes as representing the public interest of the entirety of the United Kingdom and discharging obligations conferred on her alone by Parliament.

"The [Home Secretary’s] statutory duty is a manifestation of the United Kingdom’s obligations under Article 3 ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights], which establishes non-derogable fundamental human rights.”

The first protests in the Essex town kicked off on July 12 immediately after Mr Kebatu was charged.

Thousands of anti-migrant hotel protesters have since voiced their concerns in numerous demonstrations across Epping and beyond.

The accommodation was taken over by the Home Office in April to house asylum seekers, a decision which Epping Forest District Council has claimed they were not consulted on.

Chris Whitbread, the council leader, said the move "to reopen The Bell was taken by the Home Office over our objections".

He added: "It simply does not meet the basic requirements we believe to be necessary."

Mr Whitbread told GB News this week, meanwhile, that his council had been "really clear to the Government from day one [that] this was a hotel in a completely wrong position".

"Five nearby primary schools, residential properties... it's just not suited to this type of use." he told the People's Channel.