In July 2025 an asylum seeker staying at the Bell hotel in the small Essex town of Epping was arrested for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
The incident sparked a series of violent protests by some local people and far-right actors from across the country over housing asylum seekers at the Bell. Even the billionaire Elon Musk got involved. There were also counter-protests from residents appalled by what they saw as racism.
Tim Burrows has travelled to Epping to speak to people about how the protests affected them. He tells Helen Pidd what he heard, and what happened to the hotel and those who were staying there. Twelve months after the first protest broke out, he charts how the town recovered from a summer of unrest.
Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images
