The market town of Epping, nestled at the end of London Underground's Central Line, has found itself at the center of a national debate over asylum policy, planning law, and community identity. Over the past several weeks, the Bell Hotel—a once-quiet establishment on the high street—has become a flashpoint for protests, legal wrangling, and impassioned arguments both for and against its use as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
What sparked this fierce local and national attention? In July 2025, an asylum seeker housed at the Bell Hotel was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. According to BBC, the individual, Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with attempting to kiss the teenager. Kebatu denies the allegations and is awaiting trial later this month. The incident set off a chain reaction: protests erupted outside the hotel, some peaceful, others descending into disorder. Riot police patrolled residential streets, helicopters hovered overhead, and, by August, 28 arrests had been made. Several police officers were injured, and vehicles were damaged in the chaos.
The unrest has left a mark on Epping’s daily life. On protest days, the bustling high street—normally filled with shoppers visiting bakeries, salons, and cafes—has turned eerily quiet, with many businesses shuttering early. As one local councillor described to the BBC, Epping has become the “epicentre of Britain’s anti-migrant protests.”
Opinions among residents are sharply divided. Debbie Ellis, a local grandmother, voiced her frustration: “They shouldn’t be there. They should be gone. They are causing nothing but trouble in the town.” Ellis supports the protests and suggested that asylum seekers be housed in military camps, far from the local population. “If we don’t stand up for our town no one else is going to,” she insisted.
Others, like Priyam Atter, see things differently. Out with her toddler, Atter said, “I’ve never had any issues with people who I can see are from that hotel. I certainly haven’t felt unsafe by those people, but I certainly have felt unsafe by the riots that happened in this area. I think it is a stain on Epping.”
Allegations of shoplifting by asylum seekers have circulated widely, especially on social media. Yet, as one store manager told the BBC, there is no evidence thefts are worse in Epping than elsewhere, nor is it clear who the culprits are. Essex Police statistics show reported crime in Epping and neighboring Ongar has remained broadly stable over the past 18 months, fluctuating between 261 and 365 incidents per month. The numbers were slightly higher in some months during 2022-23, but there’s been no dramatic spike since the hotel began housing asylum seekers.
As Sue Rosso, another local, put it, “There’s a lot of drums drumming on the social media and a lot of fake news. In my view those incidents are not true.” Rosso believes the protests should target Westminster, not Epping, since the government is responsible for placing asylum seekers in the town. “It’s turning neighbour against neighbour,” she observed, lamenting the loss of community spirit.
Meanwhile, the issue has moved from the streets to the courts. On August 12, 2025, Epping Forest District Council lodged documents with the High Court in London, seeking an interim injunction to stop asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel. The council’s leader, Chris Whitbread, was unequivocal: “The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub we could have closed it down long ago.” He argued that the hotel is in breach of planning permission, stating, “It is not in use as a hotel, and it doesn’t function as a hotel.” Whitbread also raised concerns about the hotel’s proximity to five schools, a residential care home, and local shops, calling its use for asylum seekers “not appropriate in planning terms.”
The council’s legal team, led by Philip Coppel KC, described the situation as “getting out of hand” and causing “great anxiety” among residents. Coppel asserted in court that the site was “no more a hotel than a borstal to a young offender” for asylum seekers, arguing that the placement of asylum seekers presented an “enhanced risk” to the community, especially given the nearby schools with about 1,800 children. “Parents have the well-founded apprehension that the continued placement of asylum seekers at the Bell hotel represents a risk to those students,” Coppel said. He also noted that the asylum seekers themselves, some of whom are vulnerable, were being housed in “intimidating” circumstances due to the protests and unrest.
On the other side, Somani Hotels Limited, which owns the Bell Hotel, pushed back firmly. Their barrister, Piers Riley-Smith, called the council’s request for an immediate injunction “draconian” and argued it would cause “hardship” for the asylum seekers. He pointed out that the hotel was only one percent full with paying guests in August 2022, and contracts to house asylum seekers were a “financial lifeline.” Riley-Smith also noted that asylum seekers had been housed at the Bell Hotel from May 2020 to March 2021, and again from October 2022 to April 2024, without incident. Problems, he argued, only began recently, coinciding with the protests. “In reality, this is an injunction by the council against the [recent] protests and the civil unrest. The council has targeted the wrong institution,” he told the court.
Riley-Smith further contended that planning issues could be addressed through conventional enforcement action rather than an emergency injunction. He warned that granting such an injunction based on protests could set a dangerous precedent, potentially allowing protests to shut down migrant accommodation anywhere in the country. “If there were an urgent need to remove the asylum seekers and return the site to a conventional hotel because of fears about criminality, it would need to be shown the average asylum seeker had a greater propensity to commit crime than the average hotel guest. There was no such evidence,” he said.
As the legal battle plays out, the High Court judge, Mr Justice Eyre, has reserved judgment, promising a decision by 2pm on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Until then, Somani Hotels is barred from accepting new asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel.
The case has also exposed broader tensions. Some residents, like Sara and Jan Russell, support the council’s efforts: “It’s about time these asylum seekers did just go. We are such a small town – we can’t really afford to have that sort of people walking up and down the street,” Sara Russell said. Others, such as Elsabe Coericius, advocate for compassion and peaceful protest, stating, “If the hotel is the only place where they can stay they should be allowed.”
With the town’s social fabric fraying and the legal process underway, Epping’s experience has become a microcosm of the national debate over migration, community safety, and the limits of local authority. As the judge weighs his decision, residents on all sides anxiously await what comes next for their town—and for those seeking refuge within it.