Police have erected a "ring of steel" around the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf, as fresh protests erupted over its planned use to house asylum seekers. Metal fencing, CCTV cameras and riot vans were deployed on Thursday amid growing tensions, fuelled by false claims that migrants from Epping's Bell Hotel would be relocated there.
Demonstrators gathered outside the four-star hotel over the past three evenings, with anti-migrant activists facing off against Left-wing counter-protesters chanting "Refugees welcome". Security has been tightened nationwide following violent unrest in Essex, where 16 arrests have already been made.
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