Police descended on an east London hotel last night as protests broke out over rumours it was set to house migrants who had been "removed from Epping".
GB News understands that the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf has been taken over by the Home Office in case it needs an "overflow hotel" - but nobody has yet been moved there.
But protesters and counter-protesters turned up yesterday afternoon - with some heard shouting that the Prime Minister was a "w****r".
Footage from outside the Britannia hotel showed scores of police officers forming lines and blockading its front doors.
More than a dozen police vans and a helicopter were also seen outside later into the night.
On Wednesday morning, a police cordon was seen by GB News in front of the hotel - with a lone police car the only remnant of the night before.
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|Police officers were pictured forming lines and blockading the hotel's front doors
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|Police were also seen holding back protesters at a neighbouring Novotel
One woman at the protest yesterday - before it emerged nobody was inside - said: "Why are they all men? Why are they all fighting-age men that have left their families in supposedly unsafe countries?
"If it was my husband, he would not be my husband anymore if he left and left me at home... If that hotel was full of women and children, people wouldn't be here and we would be sat having a cup of tea with them."
Another man, wearing a St George's flag, told the Express: "This place is a tinderbox, mark my words. One rape, one assault or anything and this place will go up in flames."
The Home Office also clarified that "asylum seekers are not being removed" from another hotel in Epping at the centre of unrest over the last week.
Local politicians, however, have vowed that migrants and refugees are welcome in London's East End.
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|PICTURED: Sunrise over the Britannia International Hotel on Wednesday morning
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|Police tape and a lone vehicle were seen by GB News at the Britannia on Wednesday morning
The Labour group at Tower Hamlets Borough Council released a statement pledging the area "has a long history of providing a safe haven for those fleeing religious or political persecution".
"As Labour councillors, we are proud of that history and believe Tower Hamlets should continue to play its part," the statement continued.
"Those claiming asylum in the UK have a right to have their case properly considered, and they must of course be accommodated while it is being decided.
"Most importantly, they should never be subject to the kind of abuse and threats of violence we have seen on the streets of Epping in the past week.
"We are appalled that some right wing extremists are seeking to use this moment to stir up racial hatred against refugees and migrants.
"We stand with the overwhelming majority of decent people who will reject their divisive politics, just as our borough rejected Oswald Mosley's Black Shirts in the 30s and the BNP in the 90s."
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|Local MP Apsana Begum vowed that refugees were welcome in her seat - but not the 'far-right'
Meanwhile, suspended Labour MP Apsana Begum, who represents the seat containing the hotel, vowed: "In Poplar & Limehouse, we are clear: refugees are welcome here.
"In the face of relentless demonisation and targeting, we continue to stand with migrants for their rights to safety and dignity... It's the far-right and their hateful ideology that are not welcome here."
Also last night, Home Office sources hailed how migrant hotel costs were in decline - with migrants either being sent out to "dispersal accommodation" or deported.
The average cost per night for a hotel room was £118.87 in March 2025, down from £162.16 in March 2023.
The cost of hotels stands at £5.77million per day, down from £8.3million per day last year.