Lancashire councils consider their next moves in the wake of asylum hotel court ruling

South Ribble Borough Council says it is considering its options regarding the ongoing use of a hotel in Leyland to house asylum seekers, following a court ruling involving another local authority.

- by Paul Faulkner

The Best Western Hotel, on Leyland Way, shut its doors to the public in April 2022 when it became one of hundreds of similar facilities to be taken over by a government contractor to provide accommodation for those awaiting assessment of their asylum applications.

A temporary injunction was granted by the High Court on Tuesday that will force the government to stop using The Bell Hotel, in Essex, for that purpose. It followed a legal challenge by Epping Forest District Council, which said planning permission had not been granted for the arrangement.

The Lancashire Post understands that neither was approval ever sought from South Ribble Borough Council - as the local planning authority - for the short-notice change of use of Leyland's Best Western, even retrospectively.

However, the High Court decision in the Epping Forest case also hinged on the fact that the council produced evidence of harm flowing from the switch - specifically, the sometimes violent protests that have centred on the hotel in recent weeks after one of its occupants was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.