Epping LIVE: Bell Hotel sign defaced ahead of major decision on council's migrant bid

A sign near the Bell Hotel in Epping was defaced with a graffiti resembling St George's Cross, just hours before a High Court judge is to rule on an injunction that would block asylum seekers being housed there. The Bell Hotel became the focal point of several protests and counter-protests in the summer after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Epping in July. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian national who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incident, was jailed for 12 months in September.

Today, November 11, a High Court judge is to rule on whether an Essex council is successful in its bid for an injunction that would block asylum seekers being housed in the hotel. Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) is taking legal action against Somani Hotels, which owns the hotel, claiming that accommodating asylum seekers there breaches planning rules. The company opposes the claim, with its barristers telling a hearing in London last month that the move does not constitute a "material change of use". The Home Office is intervening in the case and told the court the council's bid is "misconceived".

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