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Police officers ahead of a demonstration outside the former Bell Hotel in Epping

A council has secured victory in its attempt to temporarily prevent asylum seekers from being housed at an Essex hotel.

Epping Forest District Council has obtained a temporary High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping following protests that broke out at the location when an asylum seeker - who was staying at the hotel - was charged with sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl.

During Friday's hearing, legal representatives for the council argued that Somani Hotels, which operates the establishment, had violated planning regulations as the premises was not being utilised for its designated function as a hotel, describing the circumstances as ones that "c

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