A ring of steel is being set up around a luxury four-star hotel that’s been converted to house migrants, following sweeping protests this week.
Large barriers have been installed outside The Britannia International Hotel in London‘s Canary Wharf this morning.
It comes after a second night of fiery scenes following a major rally by anti-migrant activists outside the swanky city centre venue – where rooms can go for up to £425 a night.
Guards kitted out in black uniforms and wearing face masks were seen manning the barriers this morning, as security was tightened.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen officers from the Metropolitan Police have gathered outside the building.
The heightened protective measures come amid fresh fears of further protests exploding tomorrow and over the weekend.
In Epping, Essex, the community is once against braced for fresh demonstrations this week following violent clashes by ‘thugs’ outside The Bell Hotel, which is also housing illegal asylum seekers.
The mayhem erupted earlier this month after one of the hotel’s Ethiopian residents was charged with sexually assaulting schoolgirls in the leafy Essex town.
This afternoon, metal fencing was delivered to the hotel on the back of a flatbed truck, in a seeming drive to beef up the building’s defences.
Since the disorder earlier this month, protests have spread to other parts of the country, with more than 150 gathering outside The Park Hotel, in Diss, Norfolk on Monday after the Home Office announced plans to change it from housing asylum-seeker families to single men.
Large barriers have been set up around the four-star Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf
A police cordon and fencing is placed outside the Britannia International Hotel
Security guards are seen carrying a large package behind the cordon and into the hotel
It comes after the venue was turned into a migrant hotel, sparking fierce protests last night
The boss of the organisation representing rank-and-file police officers has chillingly warned the disorder in Epping’s was the ‘signal flare’ which could spark an outbreak of violent protests.
Police could now be dragged away from neighbourhood duties to keep the peace at rallies outside migrant hotels, said Tiff Lynch, head of the Police Federation.
Ms Lynch said officers were being ‘pulled in every direction’ and commanders were ‘forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps’.
She said if violent protests spread throughout the summer, it would be ‘dangerous to assume’ that police forces would be able to ‘hold the line indefinitely’
‘It would be comical if it weren’t so serious – and so familiar. Local commanders are once again being forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps,’ she wrote in the Telegraph.
She said Epping was ‘not just a troubling one-off’, adding: ‘It was a signal flare. A reminder of how little it takes for tensions to erupt and how ill-prepared we remain to deal with it.’
The hotel in Canary Wharf was the latest to be converted into asylum accommodation by the Home Office, as Britain braces itself for a potential surge in illegal migrants crossing the Channel in the summer.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been warned the nation could face a second ‘summer of riots’ if Labour fails to get a grip on such hotels being used amid rising public anger.
The decision for the four-star city building to house asylum seekers has already been branded an ‘insult’, with some residents and local business owners saying they fear for their safety.
Anti-migrant activists claim the new wall outside the lavish glass-fronted building has been built to keep them away from the hotel entrance after yesterday’s rally, which saw them clashing with police.
The hotel in Canary Wharf has been cordoned off but workers were seen bringing beds and mattresses inside
Guards were seen outside the hotel in Canary Wharf on Thursday morning
The hotel has been taken over by the Home Office to house asylum seekers
Dozens of police officers were deployed to the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf earlier this week as protests erupted
Protesters gathered outside the hotel, some wearing masks and others draped in St George’s flags
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Phiip went on the attack last night and blasted the government for spending taxpayers’ cash on housing migrants in Canary Wharf.
‘It is outrageous that the Government is splurging taxpayers’ hard-earned money on luxury hotels for illegal immigrants when most people in this country would struggle to afford a hotel in central London,’ he told The Sun.
‘This is one of the most luxurious hotels people can only dream of staying in, right in the heart of London’s financial centre.’
He continued: ‘No wonder illegal immigrants are flooding across the Channel in record numbers,’ adding: ‘This is an insult to law-abiding citizens.’
Workers spent yesterday hauling beds and mattresses into a four-star hotel in Canary Wharf after a night of protests in response to Government plans to house migrants there.
Labourers dragging new furniture into the hotel were allowed through the metal fencing and police cordon in preparation for the arrival of ‘hundreds’ of asylum seekers.
Today, workers inside the hotel appeared to be installing privacy tape on the main entrance doors at the site, which obscured views into the building.
Protesters had gathered outside the hotel amid reports asylum seekers were being transferred from Epping, where trouble had previously broken out, to the capital, although the Home Office later clarified this was not the case.
Tower Hamlets Council did, however, confirm the Government intends to use the hotel – which has around 500 rooms – for asylum seekers in a move which has angered anti-migrant protesters and guests whose bookings have been cancelled.
Privacy tape has seemingly been installed at the hotel today on its main entrance doors
A worker can be seen sticking tape to the glass frontage of the entrance doors on Thursday
Pictured is the interior of the Canary Wharf hotel which has been transformed into asylum seeker accommodation by the Home Office
The Met Police said it has officers at the scene and warned it wouldn’t hesitate to clampdown on criminal thugs trying to create mayhem outside the hotel.
A spokesman told MailOnline: ‘We continue to have officers deployed in the vicinity of the Britannia International Hotel where protests have taken place over recent days.
‘They are there to provide reassurance to local residents and businesses, to ensure that any further protest takes place peacefully and to respond to any incidents.
‘We continue to encourage those exercising their lawful right to protest to do so responsibly and with consideration to the impact on those trying to go about their lives in the local area.
‘Anyone who crosses the line from lawful protest into criminality can expect to face police action.’
In Epping, Essex Police has issued a dispersal order, which is in place from 2pm on Thursday until 8am on Friday, covering an area including the town centre, transport hubs and networks such as the underground station.
The order gives officers the power to tell anyone suspected of committing or planning antisocial behaviour to leave the area or face arrest.
Anti-immigration protesters confront a cordon of riot police officers preventing them from getting near a small group of counter-protesters in Epping on July 17
Bottles and smoke flares thrown towards police vehicles stationed outside The Bell Hotel on July 20
A masked protester faces a cordon of riot police officers preventing them from getting near a small group of pro-migrant protesters
Metal fencing was delivered to the migrant hotel in Epping as it seeks to bolster up its defences
It comes as the force faces criticism over its handling of the display, which led to riot police being drafted in, as activists hurled bricks and other missiles at police vans.
The Chief Constable for Essex Police has dismissed calls to resign over the force’s handling of the Epping protests after footage emerged of officers escorting pro-migrant activists to an asylum seeker hotel where violent clashes erupted.
Ben-Julian Harrington rejected calls from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to step down and firmly extinguished claims his officers had given a higher level of protection to pro-migrant protesters.
Asked if he would resign, he told a press conference on Wednesday: ‘No, I am not [resigning]. I am not going to do that. This is not about me, this is about the communities of Essex.’
He added: ‘The issue is not about my resignation. The issue is about an effective police operation that keeps the communities of Epping safe…’
The Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex, has been the centre of a string of violent demonstrations after an asylum seeker was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the town eight days after arriving in the UK.
Essex Police had initially denied it had brought Stand Up to Racism activists to the hotel before ugly clashes broke out with anti-migrant protesters on Thursday.
But after being shown footage of officers leading the group from a nearby station to outside the hotel, the force then backtracked and admitted it had provided a ‘foot cordon’.
Mr Farage called for Chief Constable Harrington to resign, saying the footage is ‘absolutely disgraceful’ and ‘heads must roll’.
The Reform UK leader later posted footage allegedly showing pro-migrant protesters being ‘bussed’ to the demonstration in police vans but Essex Police said this was ‘categorically’ untrue.
The force explained that pro-migrant protesters were given a ‘foot cordon’ on their way to the protest and those who were ‘clearly at risk of being hurt’ later on were ‘escorted by vehicle’.
Facing a barrage of questions, Chief Constable Harrington rejected claims his officers had given a higher level of protection to pro-migrant protesters.
‘No, I don’t accept that,’ he said. ‘The only protection that officers are doing is to those lawful and law-abiding people, whether they are in that accommodation, whether they are the people of Epping or whether they are people who are standing there with placards and banners wishing to make a very important and legitimate view, whichever your views about it.
Ben-Julian Harrington (pictured) rejected calls from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to quit
People wrapped in St George’s flag faced down riot police who lined up in a queue in Hemnall Street, Epping, on July 20
Police officers separate ‘anti-racism’ demonstrators from others protesting at the scene on July 13
‘Where officers have intervened that is because there has been disorder…We are not being partial in any way, shape or form.’
The chief constable also dismissed claims pro-migrants were ‘bussed’ to the hotel’, explaining: ‘There has been some accusations in the media that we drove people to the protest. That is not true.
‘We have not driven anybody to that protest. People made their own way there… we did take people away for their safety and the safety of everyone there.’
Five people have so far been charged with violent disorder following the protests in Epping.
Stuart Williams, 36, of Thornwood, Epping, has been charged and remanded in custody alongside Dean Smith, 51, also of Epping.
Jonathan Glover, 47, of Waltham Abbey, and Keith Silk, 33, of Loughton, have also been charged with violent disorder. They were given conditional bail.
All four are due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on August 18.
Joe McKenna, 34, of Wickford, is charged with failing to remove a face covering when directed to do so. He remains on bail ahead of a hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on September 24.
The demonstrations followed a man living in the hotel being charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and was remanded in custody.