Epping has found itself at the centre of a controversy over asylum seekers being housed in hotels in the past week. The Essex town, with a population of about 12,000 and which sits at the end of the Central line on the London Underground network, has seen more 1,000 people take part in two protests.

About 150 protesters gathered outside a hotel housing asylum-seeking families after the Home Office planned to change the occupants to single adult males. It started with about 60