West Northants assessing asylum hotel ruling but Cherwell not commenting
20/08/2025
Local councils across the country are considering the implications for their area
Following yesterday’s High Court ruling stating that asylum seekers can no longer be housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, across the country local councils are considering the implications the decision could have on their areas.
The Leader of Reform UK led West Northamptonshire Council, Councillor Mark Arnull, this morning issued a statement on the decision. He said: “We have always been clear with the Government and the public that the current use of three hotels in West Northamptonshire have never been suitable locations for asylum accommodation and place an unreasonable and unsustainable strain on our already-stretched local services.
“We also know these hotels cause concerns for our communities and I have raised these issues with the Home Office and written to the Deputy Prime Minister about the wider use of asylum accommodation within our community.
“We are currently considering the implications of this judgment to understand any similarities and differences and are actively looking at the options now available to us. As such I am unable to comment further at this stage but will issue a further update when able to do so. In the meantime, we will continue to work with partners in the police and in our communities to make sure that residents’ concerns are heard and addressed.”
Its understood the MP Rupert Lowe has written to every council in the country, through his Restore Britain organisation, urging them to follow Epping’s lead.
Banbury FM contacted Cherwell District Council asking whether it intends to reply to Mr Lowe’s letter and seeking its views on the situation. The council has declined to comment.
At yesterday’s hearing the KC for Epping Forest District Council made the case that the owner of The Bell Hotel, Somani Hotels, “did not advise or notify the local planning authority” to seek its views on the use of the site which, he argued, was no longer a hotel in the usual sense.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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