Writing in the Telegraph, external, Farage urged people “concerned about the threat posed by young undocumented males living in local hotels” to “follow the example of the town in Essex” in peaceful protest.
The judge in the case ruled in favour of Epping Forest District Council after it argued that the hotel had become a public safety risk, as well as a breach of planning law.
Dan Jarvis, Minister of State for Security, told the BBC the government had “never thought that hotels were an appropriate source of accommodation for asylum seekers” and it was looking at “contingency options” for relocating the asylum seekers currently housed at The Bell Hotel.
He told BBC Breakfast that it was up to local councils to decide on whether to pursue similar legal action, but stressed that there were “quite specific circumstances” in the Epping case.
“The basis of the legal case was around a planning matter,” he added.
Tory-run Broxbourne Council was the first local authority to declare it was seeking legal advice after the ruling “as a matter of urgency about whether it could take a similar action” over a hotel in Cheshunt.
Meanwhile, the leader of South Norfolk District Council, also run by the Conservatives, said the council will not go down the same route over a hotel housing asylum seekers in Diss which has been the subject of protest.
Daniel Elmer said the authority was using planning rules to ensure it was families being housed in the area rather than single adult males.
Government ministers say they are braced for other councils to follow Epping’s lead.
The ruling causes immediate practical difficulties for the Home Office, which has less than a month to find alternative accommodation for the asylum seekers currently housed at the Bell Hotel.
Home Office lawyers have acknowledged that the ruling could “substantially impact” the government’s ability to house the 32,000 asylum seekers living in 210 hotels across the UK if other councils pursue similar action to Epping Forest District Council.
The Government has pledged to no longer use hotels by the end of this parliament, but some contracts are in place until 2029, and pressure could grow on ministers to find alternative accommodation at a greater pace than envisaged.
Dame Angela added: “Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.”
The Home Office has also suggested The Bell Hotel injunction “runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests”.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said “the government needs to have the courage to set up and restore the Rwanda deterrent” which he said “would have stopped these crossing entirely”.
“Then we wouldn’t have the problem in the first place of having to accommodate tens of thousands of illegal immigrants,” Philp added.
