Bell Hotel can house asylum seekers after Epping council loses bid to stop them

Hotel owners and council officials have clashed in courts for weeks over the issue (Picture: Lucy North/PA Wire)Asylum seekers can continue living in the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, a High Court judge ruled today.The local council took legal action against owner Somani Hotels, claiming that the hotel is breaching planning permissions.Somani Hotels opposed the claim, telling a London court last month that accommodating asylum seekers is not a ‘material change of use’.The Home Office