Workers haul beds into posh 4-star London hotel set to house hundreds of asylum seekers – as protesters gather outside
HOTEL CHAOS Workers haul beds into posh 4-star London hotel set to house hundreds of asylum seekers – as protesters gather outside
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WORKERS have been spotted hauling beds into a posh London hotel that is set to house hundreds of asylum seekers.
Labourers wheeled in the new furniture at the four-star Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf this morning, following an anti-migrant protest outside the property last night.
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Workers could be seen carrying mattresses into the Britannia International Hotel this morning
Credit: SelwynPics
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New beds were also spotted being taken into the hotel
Credit: SelwynPics
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Anti-migrant protesters outside the building yesterday
Credit: George Cracknell Wright
Around 150 activists had surrounded the hotel - in London's eastern financial centre - last night after false reports claimed asylum seekers were being transferred there from another migrant hotel in Epping.
While the Home Office later confirmed that migrants were not being transferred, it has been revealed that the hotel - where rooms cost up to £460 a night - will be repurposed as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
A spokesman for the Tower Hamlets Council said: 'We are aware of the Government's decision to use the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
'It is important that the Government ensures that there is a full package of support for those staying at the hotel.
'We are working with the Home Office and partners to make sure that all necessary safety and safeguarding arrangements are in place.'
This morning, workers were seen wheeling beds and mattresses into the hotel - which has close to 500 rooms.
Some 50 police officers were drafted in to supervise the march on Tuesday, which at times descended into shouting matches with a small counter-protest of five people.
One held a sign reading: 'Safe and legal routes now'.
The small counter-march was eventually escorted away by cops.
Several passing motorists honked their horns in support, though some shouted 'Free Palestine' out their windows.
Among those at the protest yesterday was Reform's chief whip Lee Anderson MP, who said in an online video: 'Absolutely furious. This hotel here… it must cost a couple of hundred quid a night to stay there.
'Most normal people in this country would not be able to afford to come and stay here for a weekend, but we have illegals coming here.'
Stopped by reporters, Mr Anderson insisted he was only passing through the area by chance.
The protest had been sparked by social media rumours that asylum seekers had been moved into the four-star hotel.
It has also been claimed that some tourists had their bookings at the hotel cancelled with little notice.
Rooms at the hotel, the Britannia brand's biggest and flagship residence which opened in 1992, were last night unavailable to book online.
The Home Office said migrants had not been moved from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which was at the centre of clashes between yobs and cops last week.
Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper branded yobs, who left eight officers injured during the clashes, as selfish, mindless thugs.
Police vehicles were smashed by yobs who climbed on them and there was damage to the building.
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Bunting bearing the English flag was seen outside the hotel today
Credit: Getty
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Around 50 police officers were drafted in on Tuesday to supervise the march
Credit: Getty
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