Government wants right to appeal landmark asylum seeker hotel ruling

The government has taken the first step in appealing a court's decision that asylum seekers cannot be housed in an Essex hotel.

The Home Office is seeking permission to intervene in the case, which, if granted, will allow it to appeal the interim judgment handed down last week. Epping Forest District Council sought an interim High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which is owned by Somani Hotels Limited.

The interim injunction demanded the hotel be cleared of its occupants within 14 days. In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Eyre granted the temporary block, but extended the time limit by which it must stop housing asylum seekers to 12 September.

Somani Hotels will now appeal against the court order blocking the use of the hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers, the company's solicitors have said. Meanwhile, security minister Dan Jarvis said on Friday that closing hotels housing asylum seekers must be done "in a managed and ordered way" as he unveiled government plans to challenge the High Court's decision.

He told broadcasters: "This government will close all asylum hotels and we will clear up the mess that we inherited from the previous government. "We've made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, but we need to do that in a managed and ordered way.

"And that's why we'll appeal this decision." An analysis by Sky News has found 18 other councils are also actively pursuing or considering similar legal challenges to block asylum hotels - including Labour-run Tamworth and Wirral. Disquiet with the use of asylum hotels is at a high after the latest statistics showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers currently staying in hotels, marking a rise of 8% during Labour's first year in office.

The number of small boat crossings in the Channel is also up 38% on the previous 12 months. Following the Epping case, a wave of protests is expected outside of asylum hotels across the country in the coming days.

Stand Up To Racism is preparing to hold counter-protests outside the asylum hotels on Friday, including in Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with further demonstrations expected on Saturday. In its case, Epping Forest District Council argued that the owners of the Bell Hotel did not have planning permission to use the premises to accommodate asylum seekers.

It argued that the injunction was needed amid "unprecedented levels of protest and disruption" in connection with the accommodation. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the people of Epping who protested and its council have "led the way.