Scores of England and British flags have sprung up in a market town sandwiched between two hotels used to house asylum seekers.

Locals have attached the flags to lamp posts with zip ties over a four-mile stretch; however, some people have slammed them as “racist” and “inhospitable”.

The St George’s Cross and Union Flags have appeared between Epping Forest and North Weald, where migrant families have been housed in the Phoenix Epping Hotel for the past three years.

Most of the flags are between The Bell Hotel, which houses single male migrants, and the eastern end of Epping High Street. Some locals have backed the flags while others have ordered for them to be removed.

The future of more than 200 migrant hotels was thrown into doubt after a bombshell court ruling dubbed “a victory for the mums and dads”. The High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to prevent asylum seekers being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, following weeks of protests after a resident was charged with sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded it a “victory for the mums and dads I spoke to in Epping who just want their children to be safe”. And Reform UK’s Nigel Farage declared that the “victory” should act as an “inspiration across the country”.

Reform Party MP Lee Anderson said the court’s decision will not provide a proper solution to the problem.

He told Express.co.uk: “It’s a problem moved. Not a problem solved. Detain and deport.”

A High Court judge ruled that the Bell Hotel in Epping must stop housing asylum seekers, despite a last-ditch effort from the Home Office to intervene.

Epping Forest District Council’s temporary injuction was granted on Tuesday, forcing the hotel’s owner, Somani Hotels Limited, to remove migrants from the site within 14 days. The Home Office asked the High Court to intervene in the battle earlier today, but was denied.

Mr Justice Eyre said: “It is my assessment that the joinder of the (Home Secretary) is not necessary so the court can determine all matters in dispute in proceedings.

“Nor is there an issue which it is desirable to have the (Home Secretary) so the court can resolve it. The consequences of the (Home Secretary) joining would be the loss of yet further court time. The impact of that is significant.”

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Andrew Husband, Reform UK leader of Durham Council, has said he has already ordered his officers to take note of the landmark Bell Hotel verdict should the authority find itself in a similar situation.

And he hailed the decision as a great “example of people power” – while pledging to keep a close on hotels and houses in multiple occupation in the county.

Asylum seekers are to be removed from the hotel, in Epping in Essex, after a High Court judge granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction.

The council successfully argued that the Bell Hotel in Epping was being unlawfully used to house migrants, in breach of planning rules.

Mr Husband told Express.co.uk: “I have already challenged our legal team to start mapping out a defence should we face a similar challenge, on the back of this injunction.

Kemi Badenoch said the High Court’s ruling was “a victory for the mums and dads” of Epping.

She wrote on X: “Good news and a victory for the mums and dads I spoke to in Epping who just want their children to be safe.

“Putting a hotel full of young male illegal immigrants in the middle of a community like Epping was always going to lead to issues. They need to be moved out of the area immediately.”

Locals in Epping have been seen celebrating after winning a legal battle to close a controversial asylum hotel.

One person celebrating outside the hotel told the Daily Express: “I think there is an ecstatic atmosphere, I can’t smile more to be honest.

“For five years Epping has been blighted by the Bell Hotel and we have finally got it closed down.”

He continued: “We have set a precedent that you can liberate your towns and villages by peaceful protest, by taking community action and by applying pressure to your district councils and local government.”

Local resident Sarah White tells Express reporter Lotti O’Brien that she’s “really happy” following the High Court’s ruling.

Express reporter Lotti O’Brien has spoken to people outside the Bell Hotel following the High Court’s ruling.

The Government does not have a plan to accommodate asylum seekers and did not listen to concerns that they should not be housed at the Bell Hotel, the leader of Epping Forest District Council has said.

Chris Whitbread said that failures to improve the system for processing asylum applications were also causing distress “up and down the country”.

Express reporter Lotti O’Brien is currently outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where people have gathered to celebrate the ruling.

The 12 councils where Reform UK is the largest party are understood to be exploring the prospect of legal challenges after today’s ruling.

Nigel Farage hailed the High Court decision in Epping as a “victory” and said he hopes it “provides inspiration to others across the country”, while the shadow home secretary argued that residents have “every right to object” to people being housed in their area.

The Home Office had warned the judge that an injunction could “interfere” with the department’s legal obligations, and lawyers representing the hotel’s owner argued it would set a “precedent”.

A Hertfordshire council leader said she will gather “more detail about what Epping has done” before considering a bid to shut down a hotel thought to be housing asylum seekers.

Corina Gander, Conservative Borough of Broxbourne Council leader, said crowds had gathered in protest outside the Cheshunt Marriott Hotel.

She told PA the High Court’s decision had set a “massive precedent”. Ms Gander added: “It’s just given us this massive boost and precedent that we can do something now.”

Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “This Government inherited a broken asylum system, at the peak there were over 400 hotels open.

“We will continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns. Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.

“We will carefully consider this judgment. As this matter remains subject to ongoing legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

Mr Justice Eyre said the owners of the Bell Hotel “sidestepped public scrutiny and explanation”.

In his judgment he said: “Although the defendant’s actions were not flagrant or surreptitious they were deliberate. The defendant acted in good faith but chose to take its stand on the position that there was no material change of use.

“The defendant did so in the knowledge the claimant as local planning authority took a different view and believed that permission was necessary.

“It thereby sidestepped the public scrutiny and explanation which would otherwise have taken place if an application for planning permission or for a certificate of lawful use had been made.

“It was also deliberately taking the chance that its understanding of the legal position was incorrect. This is factor of particular weight in the circumstances of this case.”

Mr Justice Eyre said the fear of crime being committed by those accommodated there was a “relevant factor”, albeit one with “limited weight”.

In his judgment he said it is “understandable” that recent arrests “form a basis for the local concern”.

He added: “The arrests have occurred in a relatively short period and have arisen when no more than 138 asylum seekers are accommodated in the Bell at any time.

“The consequence is that the fear said to be felt by local residents cannot be dismissed as solely speculation based on fear of what might happen from an activity which has not yet begun.”

Chris Whitbread, leader of Epping Forest District Council, appeared outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London after his authority was granted its injunction.

When asked whether asylum seekers are welcome in Epping Forest, Chris Whitbread, leader of Epping Forest District Council, said: “We have always been a welcoming community, but obviously, what we need to see in Epping Forest is that the Government treats our residents fairly.

“The use of the Bell Hotel was always considered by ourselves not to be a suitable location, and we warned the Government of that, we warned the last government of that, and we were found to be correct.

“So, yes, of course, we only asked that Epping Forest is treated fairly and decently.”

Nigel Farage said he hopes Epping’s victory “provides inspiration” for other councils across the country.

He said: “This is a victory for the parents and concerned residents of Epping. They do not want their young women being assaulted on the streets.

“This community stood up bravely, despite being slandered as far right, and have won. They represent the vast majority of decent people in this country.

“Young, undocumented males who break into the UK illegally should NOT be free to walk the streets anywhere. They must be detained and deported. I hope that Epping provides inspiration to others across the country.”

There could be “similar applications made elsewhere that would then aggravate pressures on the asylum estate” and injunction applications could become “new norm adopted by local authorities”, lawyers for the Home Office submitted.

Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, said: “I am delighted. This is great news for our residents. The last few weeks have placed an intolerable strain on our community but today we have some great news.

“Thank you to Mr Justice Eyre. For the first time in weeks we can see a chink of light at the end of the tunnel.

“I also want to say a massive thank you to our planning and legal teams who have worked day and night in preparation for our day in court. They have done our council proud.

“This is not the end of the matter. Having obtained an interim provision the next stage is for the council to return to the court and seek a permanent injunction.

“Home Office policy ignores the issues and concerns of local residents that the council represents.

“Today we have made a step towards redressing the imbalance and showing that local people do have some say, whatever the Home Office thinks.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, said: “Everyone agrees that hotels are the wrong answer. They cost the taxpayer billions, trap people in limbo and are flashpoints in communities.

“Through our frontline work, we see how protests and hostility leave people who have fled war and persecution feeling terrified and targeted in the very places they are forced to live. This makes an already traumatising situation worse and prevents people from feeling safe.

“Instead of using costly hotels, the Government should partner with local councils to provide safe, cost-effective accommodation within communities.

“But ultimately, the only way to end hotel use for good is to resolve asylum applications quickly and accurately so people can either rebuild their lives here or return home with dignity.

“This will cut costs and allow refugees to integrate into their new communities, contribute, and play their part in Britain.”

Mr Justice Eyre has refused to give Somani Hotels Limited, which owns the Bell Hotel, the opportunity to challenge his ruling.

Piers Riley-Smith, for the company, asked the judge to be allowed to appeal against the ruling because of its “wide-reaching ramifications”.

He said that there was a “compelling reason for the appeal to be heard”, including the “precedent that would be set” by the ruling and the impact that it could have “on the wider strategy of the (Home Secretary) in relation to the housing of asylum seekers in hotels as part of meeting their statutory duties”.

Mr Justice Eyre said that he was “not persuaded there is such a compelling reason”.

Somani Hotels could still ask the Court of Appeal for the go-ahead to challenge the ruling.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This ruling is a moment of relief for the people of Epping. Residents should never have had to fight their own government just to feel safe in their own town.

“Local residents have every right to feel safe in their own streets and every right to object when their community is treated as a dumping ground.

“This whole episode is the direct result of Labour’s decision to throw open Britain’s borders and tear up the deterrents the Conservatives put in place.

“The Conservatives will remove all illegal arrivals immediately and put a proper deterrent in place so that towns like Epping are never put in this position again.”

Express reporter Lotti O’Brien is on the scene outside of the Bell Hotel ahead of the High Court’s verdict.

She says there are two police vehicles parked outside the hotel, which may be forced to stop housing asylum seekers.

Officers are also patrolling the road to the high street, she added.

Lawyers for the Home Office said that if a High Court judge grants the temporary injunction, it “runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests”.

Edward Brown KC said the Bell Hotel is “an appropriate site for accommodating asylum seekers notwithstanding the recent events”.

He added that the injunction would “substantially interfere” with the Home Office’s statutory duty in potentially avoiding a breach of the asylum seekers’ human rights.

The barrister said: “The balance of convenience can never favour a course of conduct that creates a real risk of interfering with fundamental human rights.”

Epping Forest District Council will discover within the next 30 minutes if it has been granted a temporary injunction blocking asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel.

Mr Justice Eyre said shortly after 3pm on Tuesday that he would leave court to send a draft of the judgment to barristers for the council and the hotel’s owner, Somani Hotels Limited.

The judge continued that he would then hand down the ruling 30 minutes later.

A High Court judge has ruled that the Home Office cannot intervene in the bid to block asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel.

Mr Justice Eyre said: “It is my assessment that the joinder of the (Home Secretary) is not necessary so the court can determine all matters in dispute in proceedings.

“Nor is there an issue which it is desirable to have the (Home Secretary) so the court can resolve it.

“The consequences of the (Home Secretary) joining would be the loss of yet further court time. The impact of that is significant.”

Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels Limited, which owns the Bell Hotel, told the High Court that the company supports the Home Office’s request to intervene in Epping Forest District Council’s bid for a temporary injunction.

But Philip Coppel KC, for the council, said that the Home Office’s request was “a thoroughly unprincipled application made in a thoroughly unprincipled way”, and that the department knew of the injunction bid last week but “sat on their hands”.

The Home Office has asked the High Court to intervene in Epping Forest District Council’s bid for a temporary injunction blocking asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.

If granted, the injunction would mean the hotel’s owner, Somani Hotels Limited, must stop housing asylum seekers at the site within 14 days.

The Home Office was not represented at a previous hearing in the case on Friday, but at the start of a hearing on Tuesday, at which Mr Justice Eyre is due to hand down his ruling on whether the injunction should be granted, the department asked to be allowed to intervene.

Edward Brown KC, for the Home Office, said: “If the injunction is granted by the court, it will substantially impact on the Home Secretary’s statutory duties.

“The local authority should in fact have given some consideration to the wider public interest in this application.

He added that the injunction bid “causes particular acute difficulties at the present date”.

A well-known Conservative peer has hinted that he could jump ship to Reform after 42 years of membership, due to his current party’s “woeful record on immigration”.

Lord Jackson on Peterborough, a former MP and advisor on Brexit in Theresa May’s government, took aim at Kemi Badenoch for failing to “set out… a compelling and attractive” policy platform following their worst election defeat ever.

Lord Jackson blasted the Tory party for not having “adequately addressed its own abysmal final period in office, especially its woeful record on immigration.”

He told The Telegraph that while he doesn’t have any plans at the moment to jump ship, “I would also neither rule out joining Reform nor voting for the party but in any event. I believe an electoral arrangement is most likely as the imperative is to remove this damaging Labour Government.”

A furious blame game erupted over the migrant hotel crisis as Sir Keir Starmer was warned protests could sweep the country.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Express the Prime Minister is “deluded” if he thinks people “won’t notice” asylum seekers being moved into communities across the country.

The former Immigration Minister joined protesters in Epping on Sunday, adding “people are right to be fed up of illegal migration”.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick claims children have been told to avoid migrant hot-spots when travelling home from school. He after visited protesters outside a migrant hotel in Epping, Essex, on Sunday.

Writing in The Sun, Mr Jenrick said: “I spoke to teens, parents and grandparents — all rightly concerned about the safety of their community.

“These weren’t racists or far-right thugs — they were mums in pink T-shirts with Union Jack bunting.

“One mother told me how her daughter’s school had written to her suggesting children avoid certain parts of town on their walk home.

“Her young daughter told me that men from the hotels loiter outside certain spots ‘where they look at us’.”

Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels which owns the Bell Hotel, argued that an injunction would cause the owners “financial harm” because the migrants were a “financial lifeline” that had allowed “money to be reinvested in the hotel”.

Mr Riley-Smith told the court: “It is not [Somani Hotels’] submission to suggest that local communities’ concerns are not genuine. But it is clear that recent protests have expanded far beyond the local community and have gone into concerns about wider ideological, or political issues, by those from outside the community”.

He added in written submissions that the alleged planning breach was “not flagrant” and that it was “entirely wrong” for the council to “suggest the use has been hidden from them”.

Epping Forest District Council in Essex is seeking an interim injunction stopping migrants from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping.

This follows a series of protests in recent weeks outside the hotel after an asylum seeker who was housed at the hotel was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Philip Coppel KC, representing the council said on Friday: “Having this sort of thing go on in such a concentration of schools with no measures in place to stop a repetition is not acceptable. It really could not be much worse than this.”

He added: “It is a problem that is getting out of hand; it is a problem that is causing a great anxiety to those living in the district.”

The High Court judge will give his ruling at 2pm today.

The hearing began on Friday where council barristers claimed Somani Hotels, owners of the Bell Hotel, breached planning rules because the site is not being used for its intended purpose as a hotel.

The injunction sought by Epping Forest Council, if granted, would require the company to stop housing asylum seekers at the hotel within 14 days.

Good morning. Welcome to our live coverage of the court ruling which will decide if the Bell Hotel in Epping will continue to house migrants.