Rings of Steel Placed Around Canary Wharf and Epping Asylum Seeker Hotels After Second Night of Anti-Migrant Protests

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.

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.

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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’

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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.

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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.