Police deny driving counter-protesters to asylum hotel demonstration

Escorting pro-refugee protesters to demonstrations outside an asylum hotel was a "public safety decision", a police force said.

Officers were filmed escorting about 50 people to and from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on 17 July.

The group went on to clash with rival protesters calling for the hotel to stop housing asylum seekers, leading to eight constables being injured.

Essex Police denied "collaborating" with those supporting the hotel occupants and said it was standard practice to facilitate a lawful protest.

The force is due to hold a press conference later, explaining its policing of the demonstrations.

More than 1,000 people have attended protests across 13, 17 and 20 July.

A police spokesman said the officers would not stop the counter-protesters attending the hotel, so chose to escort them there in an effort to prevent clashes.

They were later accused of "giving protesters lifts" when taking them to a line of waiting vans after disorder broke out, which involved objects being thrown.

But the spokesman insisted officers had to act "on the ground at that moment" to ensure they could concentrate on policing the situation.

The counter-protesters were taken to a side street and police blocked Epping High Street with their vehicles.

Four men have been charged with violent disorder in connection to the protests on 17 July.

One was also accused of criminally damaging a hotel sign, while a fifth man was accused of refusing to remove a face covering.

The demonstrations followed a man living in the hotel being charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and was remanded in custody during a hearing on Thursday.

Protests have also been staged outside the Britannia International Hotel in London's Canary Wharf after it was designated as asylum accommodation.

Andrew Wood, a former Tower Hamlets Conservative councillor, told the BBC the hotel became asylum housing within the past few days.

The Home Office refused to confirm if that was true, but denied rumours on social media that migrants from the Bell Hotel were being moved there.

However, a spokesman for Tower Hamlets Council said: "We are aware of the government's decision to use the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers."