An Essex town has been at the centre of protests over the use of a hotel to house asylum seekers. Police officers have been injured and several arrests have been made near the Bell Hotel in Epping. What do local people make of the situation that has thrust their town into the spotlight?

The cost of policing protests outside a hotel in Essex believed to be housing asylum seekers has reached £100,000, police said. Eight police officers were injured following what started as a peaceful protest outside the Bell Hotel in Epping on Thursday evening.