A High Court ruling has opened the door for councils nationwide to challenge the use of hotels accommodating asylum seekers, as the government scrambles for alternatives with fresh protests expected.

Officials from the Epping Forest District Council asked a judge to issue an order to temporarily block migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, due to “unprecedented levels of protest and disruption” over asylum-seeker accommodation.

The British government will seek to appeal a court ruling that will force asylum seekers to be removed from a hotel that has become a focal point for anti-immigration protests, Security Minister Dan Jarvis said on Friday.