Cost of policing city’s hotel protests revealed.
The expense of policing protests outside a major hotel during the summer has been disclosed.
In recent months, Norfolk Police have maintained a constant presence outside the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, Norwich.
This has featured weekly rallies of hundreds of people, some of whom are opposing the hotel’s hosting of migrants and others who are opposed. The BBC has learnt that the average cost of policing a protest is around £56,000.
A Norfolk Police spokeswoman stated, ahead of Sunday’s demonstration at the 81-bedroom hotel, that policing the protests cost about £169,000 in August.
She stated that the costs were a mix of conventional duty time and overtime, with rest days frequently cancelled on short notice.
Best Western’s Bowthorpe hotel is one of hundreds in the UK that have closed their doors to other customers in order to lodge about 32,000 asylum seekers.
The most recent Home Office numbers, for the end of June, revealed a total of 32,059 migrants living in hotels, up 8% year on year but down 43% from the peak of 56,042 in September 2023.
These were also broken down by local authority area, with 207 asylum seekers being sheltered in Norwich hotels in June, up 46 from the previous three months.
A smaller number of protests took place outside the Park Hotel in Diss, where the Home Office planned replacing families with single men.
However, in response to widespread criticism, the government has decided to discontinue keeping migrants there, with the hotel’s owners intending to rehabilitate and reopen it to the general public.
There were 68 asylum seekers staying in hotels in South Norfolk, up 32 from the end of March.
In recent weeks, Norfolk Police has actively shared information about planned protests at the Brook Hotel in order to encourage peaceful protest.
While there have been a few arrests, police officials have kept rival demonstrators apart as they work to keep the bustling Dereham Road clear.
Norfolk Police issued a statement ahead of a rally on Friday, August 8, emphasising that the “right to protest is a key part of our democracy” but also stating that a “robust policing operation” would be in place.
This included the authority to arrest anyone who refused to remove their face coverings when asked.
Evidence gatherers have also been placed to the protests, with film being checked to see if any crimes have been committed.
Four men were arrested after the most recent demonstration outside the Brook Hotel on Sunday. One man in his 40s was arrested on charges of inciting racial hate and released on bail until November 27.
Two men in their twenties and a guy in his forties were also arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and common assault in connection with the previous Sunday’s assault on a man at a protest in the same location.
All three have been questioned and released on bail until November 23. A 60-year-old man was also arrested last Friday on allegations of inciting racial hatred.
This came after reviewing video evidence from a protest on August 24th. He was released on bond until November 28.
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