Epping council denied right to appeal Bell Hotel ruling

A council in Epping, Essex, has been refused an application to appeal against a ruling allowing asylum seekers to continue to be housed at a hotel in the area.

- ELLIE NG

Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) wanted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal's ruling which was made last week.

The Bell Hotel in Epping became the focal point of several demonstrations and counter-protests in recent weeks after a resident asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month.

He has denied the charges.

The council was granted an interim injunction to stop 138 asylum seekers being housed there before a successful Court of Appeal challenge from the Home Office and the hotel's owners, Somani Hotels, overturned the High Court ruling.