Asylum seekers living in an East Kilbride hotel were left feeling 'intimidated' after far-right group Britain First turned up to protest.
Lanarkshire Live understands hotel staff alerted police when a van showed up at the Bruce Hotel in the town centre last Wednesday and a man and woman, believed to be from the fascist political group, allegedly began harassing residents.
A source told us the incident marred a multicultural event organised to welcome the asylum seekers into the community as the residents were left feeling too intimidated to go along.
Speaking at the event on Friday, the source told Lanarkshire Live : "It's a shame that a lot of people haven't turned up today because Britain First were at the Bruce Hotel.
"A few of the residents were feeling intimidated and didn't want to come.
"I think only two of them got out of the van and the police managed to deal with it, but they then went to another hotel and did the same thing."
Britain First posted a video on YouTube highlighting their visit to the Lanarkshire hotel, stating that this was the first of many migrant hotels in Scotland that the group plan to expose.
A voiceover in the video which shows still images of the interior of the hotel said: 'A Britain First team visited the Bruce Hotel in East Kilbride and found it teeming with illegal immigrants from Africa and the Middle East.
'Party leader Paul Golding was almost attacked by an African migrant, who had to be dragged away by hotel security.
"This is the first of many such migrant hotels in Scotland that Britain First plans to expose.'
There has been no confirmation or evidence to corroborate the alleged attack on Golding.
Supporters of Britain First last year reportedly entered hotels used by the Home Office to accommodate asylum seekers and started banging on bedroom doors and antagonising the asylum seekers there.
They are now resuming such visits and put out an appeal to members of the public to give them the names of hotels where they knew asylum seekers were being accommodated.
Lanarkshire Live understands the local police and management team overseeing the welfare and support of the asylum seekers have been left "extremely concerned" by the incident.
East Kilbride Community Inspector David Doherty said the group left the hotel before police arrived and no arrests were made.
He told us : "Police were called to an incident at the Bruce Hotel in East Kilbride at 3.20pm on Wednesday, June 29.
"Staff from the hotel reported that a male and female had approached the hotel entrance and attempted to engage some of the residents in conversation.
"Both male and female left the hotel prior to police arrival, no offences have been identified."
East Kilbride MSP Collette Stevenson described the incident as "abhorrant," adding she "deplores such hatred in the strongest of terms".
She added: "This despicable behaviour only seeks to warp and divide our society – but it will never succeed."
Central Scotland MSP Graham Simpson also condemned the actions of the facsist group, calling the behaviour "disappointing," with "no excuse" for it.
Lisa Cameron MP has said before that hotel accommodation is "not suitable for asylum seekers," but believes the constituency as a whole has been welcoming.
The Bruce Hotel is being used to house 60 men who have crossed the English Channel by boat fleeing conflict and poverty from war-torn countries in search for a better life in the UK.
The Home Office is now accommodating hundreds of asylum seekers in hotels across the country as part of “contingency arrangements” to handle a huge influx of immigrants descending on the French coast of Calais.
Paul Golding, leader of Britain First, said: “The migrants at the Bruce Hotel have travelled through many peaceful countries to get to our Soft Touch country.
“They are also overwhelmingly working-age men.”
He added: “Britain First will continue to expose the use of four-star hotels to house illegal migrants in Scotland.”
The News contacted the Bruce Hotel for comment.
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