No 10 Condemns Attacks on Police at Essex Asylum Hotel

Downing Street has condemned violence against police outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Essex amid fears the far right will continue to exploit local grievances there.

- Ben Quinn

Six people were arrested after the latest clashes on Sunday, which saw riot police again pelted with projectiles before the area was cleared.

Nigel Farage has since intervened in the controversy, claiming Britain is getting close to "civil disobedience on a vast scale" and seeking to lay much of the blame for the violence in the town of Epping on anti-racism protesters.

There are also fears the situation in Epping will be inflamed at the weekend if the far-right activist Tommy Robinson makes good on a promise to show up with supporters.

Local people were among those who gathered with hundreds of others in what was at first a largely peaceful protest, but violence erupted as groups of men clashed with the police.

Tensions remained high after the appearance in court on Thursday of an asylum seeker charged with three counts of sexual assault.