An Epping Councillor has called for a migrant hotel to be "closed down" after hundreds of locals descended on the area in protest.
Holly Whitbread, the Tory representative for Epping and Theydon Bois, told GB News that the issue is at "boiling point" and urged the Government to take action.
Protests were sparked in Essex town after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl just days after arriving in the UK.
The asylum seeker, understood to be housed in the Epping hotel, has denied the offences and has been remanded in custody ahead of a two-day trial next month.
X / GB News
|Epping Councillor Holly Whitbread has called for the Bell Hotel to be 'closed down' after 'disturbing' protests
Reacting to the unrest outside the hotel on Thursday evening, Whitbread told GB News: "It's pretty disturbing to see what happened last night. I'm the local councillor, I've lived in Epping my whole life, so it really isn't something that you expect to see.
"As a council, we've absolutely condemned the hotel and called on the Government to close it immediately, and we have done that since it reopened."
Criticising the Government for "ignoring" calls from the council to close the hotel, Whitbread added: "The Government have ignored those calls repeatedly.
"But obviously, whilst peaceful protest is legitimate, it's just not good enough to see scenes like this in the streets of Epping."
X/@EssexPR | Protesters gathered outside the hotel last night
Defending those who had been "peacefully protesting" at the hotel before it descended into more violent demonstrations, Whitbread said they "diluted a legitimate message of concern".
Whitbread explained: "I think there were local people who were legitimately and peacefully protesting, but I think there were also people both on the left and the right who were there as professional protesters and who were there to cause trouble.
"So it diluted what was a legitimate message of concern where people were causing trouble and being violent, which is obviously absolutely unacceptable."
Offering her support to Essex Police, the councillor thanked the officers for their work in attempting to manage the unrest in what was an "incredibly difficult" situation.
GB News
|Whitbread told GB News that the situation has become 'unacceptable'
She stated: "I'd like to thank Essex Police and I believe the Met Police were involved as well last night, so thanks for their actions in what was incredibly difficult and unexpected, quite frankly, in the area that we live in. And while it's absolutely right that people can protest, it's also right that they do so peacefully and when necessary.
"We've seen that arrests have been made, those actions are taken, and what is really clear to me and the message as a council that we keep giving to the Government is this hotel needs to close now. We can't let this, go on, it's at boiling point. We saw this incident last night and this cannot be allowed to continue."
Chief Superintendent at Essex Police Simon Anslow said in a statement: "Disruption and offending is never an appropriate response, no matter the strength of feeling in this case, and on this issue.
"People protesting peacefully, lawfully and responsibly cause us, and the wider public, no concern.
"However, we can never, and will never, tolerate criminal behaviour of any sort and anyone identified as committing crime will be dealt with robustly."