Epping hotel must continue housing asylum seekers after council loses appeal

Epping Forest District Council had tried to block asylum seekers staying at The Bell Hotel by arguing its owner had flouted planning rules.

But on Tuesday, the claim was dismissed by Mr Justice Mould at the High Court, after it was ruled that an injunction was "not an appropriate means of enforcing planning control".

Over the summer, the Bell Hotel had become a focal point of anti-migrant protests, after an asylum seeker living there was arrested for sexual offences.