Peaceful protest as asylum seeker supporters and anti-immigration groups gather

OPPOSING GATHERINGS EXCHANGE CHANTS

- By ZENA HAWLEY & LOUIS CORBETT

ARIOUND 50 asylum-seeker support ers gathered outside a hotel in Long Eaton on Saturday to show solidarity. They were joined by about a dozen anti-immigration campaigners.

The hotel has been housing asylum seekers since the autumn of 2022.

Members of Stand Up To Racism organised the event after reports of a small number of men having allegedly been abusive to migrants the previous two Saturdays.

Both groups chanted at each other as two police officers kept an eye on the situa tion from about 50 metres away.

The gathering began at around noon and came to a close at around 2.45pm when numbers started to dwindle.

It came after separate protests outside a hotel in Epping, Essex, led the local council to take out an injunction with the High Court to prohibit the hotel from housing asylum seekers,. This has resulted in an increase in protests outside hotels across the nation.