Labour's asylum hotel policy faces more fury as 145,000 demand deportations in Epping backlash

The petition, which was created earlier this year, has seen a 45,000-signature surge over the past month amid a growing number of anti-asylum hotel protests this summer.

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Sir Keir Starmer's Government has vowed to close asylum hotels by 2029.

Responding to the petition after it quickly received 10,000 signatures, the Government said: "We are working as fast as possible to close asylum hotels and increase the removal of people with no right to be in the UK, but we inherited an asylum system in chaos, and we cannot fix it overnight."

Following yesterday's High Court ruling, the successful injunction forced Bell Hotel owners at Somani Hotels Limited to stop housing asylum seekers at the property within 14 days.

Despite Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowing to close asylum hotels by 2029, disgruntled local residents have put pressure on Sir Keir to take immediate action.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has suggested that all 12 of the local authorities swept up in May's turquoise tsunami could now look to use Epping's ruling as a precedent to shut their respective migrant hotels.

Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Farage said that Reform-run local authorities would do "everything in their power to follow Epping's lead".

He added: "The good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain.

"Wherever people are concerned about the threat posed by young undocumented males living in local hotels and who are free to walk their streets, they should follow the example of the town in Essex."

Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice later confirmed that the party's councils will take decisive action on migrant hotels in the coming days.

"Our council leaders will be instructing legal departments to pursue all legal avenues after this ruling, which is very significant because it’s a temporary junction based on the fact that there has been a material change in use of the building from a hotel," the Boston & Skegness MP told Times Radio.

"And that’s the temporary injunction. So all the Reform councils will be pursuing this."

Meanwhile, Broxbourne Council's Conservative leader Corina Dander said: "The Government has failed, and now local councils are standing up. Enough is enough."

However, South Norfolk District Council, which is also currently controlled by the Tories, has said it will not go down the same route over housing asylum seekers at a hotel in Diss.

The East Anglian witnessed demonstrations outside a hotel housing asylum seekers earlier this summer.

Two men were arrested and charged in connection with protests held in Diss in July.

Despite South Norfolk District Council opting against taking decisive action, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp came down hard in favour of the High Court's ruling in favour of Epping.

Writing for The Daily Express, Mr Philp said: "Every illegal arrival must be removed, every loophole must be closed, every community must be protected so towns like Epping are never put in this position again."

Meanwhile, Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle confirmed the Government will "continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns".

She added: "Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament."

However, Security Minister Dan Jarvis this morning admitted that migrants housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping could relocate to another site.

He told Sky News: "The use of hotels is not a long-term sustainable arrangement. In this specific case we’ll have to look at how those people can be accommodated in an alternative way.

"We’ve made the pledge to drive down the use of hotels. Under the previous Government there were 400 hotels in use, there are now 200. That is still too many…We’ve made a commitment that we’ll drive it down to zero by the end of this Parliament.”