Nottinghamshire Police says it will continue to monitor a Mansfield hotel where asylum seekers are being housed after a group of protestors chanted and clapped outside the venue. A clip emerged over the weekend in which around a dozen people are seen shouting "out" to those inside the Midland Hotel.
The action was condemned online by several members of the public and local councillors, although Mansfield's MP Ben Bradley said that he "totally understood the feelings" of people with concerns about the housing of asylum seekers. But one councillor has now demanded a formal investigation into the incident, which police say took place on Saturday (February 4).
Councillor David Hennigan, a cabinet member of Ashfield District Council, said in a letter to Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner: "I am proud of Nottinghamshire's record on community cohesion and believe that this protest puts that at risk. I would therefore ask for a formal investigation into whether any offences have been committed.
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Councillor Hennigan also asked for "a public statement condemning the incident" and for both police and the commissioner "to write to all MPs in Nottinghamshire to remind them of their responsibility to promote community cohesion".
Nottinghamshire Police has confirmed a complaint about the incident has been received from one member of the public. Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner has also been contacted for comment.
Inspector Kylie Davies, the district commander for Mansfield, said: "Officers attended a protest at the Midland Hotel in Mansfield on Saturday morning. No threats to public safety were identified and no police action was required.
"We will continue to monitor the situation at this location and will investigate any offences reported to us. One complaint has been received from a member of the public and will be investigated in the usual way."
Research from Migration Watch UK in late September claimed that tens of thousands of asylum seekers were staying in approximately 200 hotels around the country. A backlog in the processing of asylum cases has built up, with Rishi Sunak pledging to clear this by the end of this year.
Downing Street later said that this only applied to claims made before June last year. A report from the Refugee Council in July shared the experiences of some of the asylum seekers who have been placed in hotels. The report said that living in the hotels was "mentally and emotionally exhausting", with problems including people not receiving critical medical help due to not being registered with a GP.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The welfare of asylum seekers in our care is of the utmost importance and any attempts to fuel resentment towards them are completely unacceptable. Whenever we seek to use sites for asylum accommodation, we engage with the local police and other stakeholders to identify any community tensions. We continually review the security at asylum accommodation sites with providers."
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