Anti-migrant protests escalated again late Sunday outside a London hotel housing asylum seekers, as rioters threw bottles and smoke bombs at the police.

Police said they had arrested five people for "violent disorder" at a rally outside the Bell Hotel in London's northeastern district of Epping.

"Disappointingly, we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle," Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said in a statement.

Police vans guarded the entrance to the hotel as several hundred people rallied outside, according to the British news agency PA.

The protesters shouted "save our children" and "send them home," while banners called for the expulsion of "foreign criminals."

Tensions have been simmering for days after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. He allegedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denied when brought to court on July 17.

On the evening of July 17, eight police officers were wounded in clashes. 

Anti-immigration riots shook the UK last summer after three girls were stabbed to death by a teenager in the northwestern town of Southport, even though the suspect turned out to be British-born.

Rioters had attacked hotels housing asylum seekers in several towns, including an attempt to set fire to an establishment in Rotherham in northeast England.

(Cover: A cordon of Riot Police pushes back far-right anti-immigration protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, July 17, 2025. /VCG)