LONDON, July 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Anti-migrant protests degenerated again late Sunday outside a London hotel housing asylum seekers, as rioters threw bottles and smoke bombs at the police.

Police said they had arrested five people for "violent disorder" at the rally outside the Bell Hotel in the north-east London district of Epping.

"Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle," Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said in a statement.

Police vans guarded the entrance to the hotel as several hundred people rallied outside, according to the British news agency PA.

The protestors shouted "save our children" and "send them home", while banners called for the expulsion of "foreign criminals".

Tensions have been simmering for days after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. He allegedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denied when brought to court on Thursday.

On Thursday evening, eight police officers were wounded in clashes.

Anti-immigration riots shook the UK last summer after three girls were stabbed to death by a teenager in the north-western town of Southport, even though the suspect turned out to be British-born.

Rioters had attacked hotels housing asylum seekers in several towns, including an attempt to set fire to an establishment in Rotherham, in north-east England.