Three arrests as Epping protesters clash with police

Three people have been arrested during a protest against the housing of asylum seekers at a hotel in Essex.

An organised march was held in Epping, where about 140 migrants are staying at The Bell Hotel.

Essex Police had a dispersal order in place and set restrictions on the protest, saying it must be finished by 20:00 and banners must not contain "offensive or inflammatory language".

The force said one man was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred while another man and a woman were arrested for breaching orders in place for the protest.

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About 200 people gathered outside the Epping Forest District Council building where a woman climbed the steps and unfurled a Union flag before being detained by officers after refusing to leave.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said her arrest was "categorically not for flying a Union Flag", but because the Civic Centre was not an area where protesters were allowed.

One man was arrested when he refused to leave the area after the protest had concluded, breaching a section 14 order. The man who was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred was detained "after an emblem was reported to have been set alight" during a protest on Friday, police said.

Earlier in the evening, protesters stood behind metal barriers across the road from the Bell Hotel, waving at passing cars that sounded their horns.

Protesters were told they could not cover their face or carry offensive signs

The hotel became the focal point of several demonstrations and counter-protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month. He has denied the charges.

The case is currently going through the courts.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal overturned a temporary injunction that would have blocked asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel.

Assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper said: "We've consistently said that we will always seek to facilitate lawful protest but that does not include a right to commit crime, and we'll take a firm approach to anyone intent on doing that.

"And to reiterate to the public, the strength of feeling in Epping is not lost on me – or anyone in Essex Police – and I would urge anyone who wants to make their voices heard to please do that peacefully and within the parameters outlined," he said.

Police have urged protests to remain peaceful

The unrest came as a number of anti-asylum protests and counter-protests took place across England on Sunday, including in London, Gloucester and Norwich.