A METAL fence has been installed around the outside of a hotel housing asylum seekers in Basingstoke.

The hotel, which the Gazette has decided not to name, has been used to accommodate asylum seekers since 2021.

The Gazette asked the Home Office whether the fence has been installed as a precautionary measure or in response to the hotel being targeted. 

READ MORE: 'We need to be prepared' - Basingstoke MP responds to violent disorder across the country

A spokesperson said it could not comment on security at hotels housing asylum seekers but did say: “We are doing everything we can to keep asylum seekers safe.”

Hampshire Constabulary said there have been no reported incidents at the hotel. 

Other hotels housing asylum seekers were targeted earlier this month in attacks described by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “far-right thuggery”.

He condemned those involved in the racially motivated violence earlier in August, which included a crowd chanting ‘get them out’ and smashing windows of a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham before starting a fire.

The prime minister said those involved “will regret it”, as last week more than 300 people appeared in court linked to the recent unrest, according to the Ministry of Justice, and more than 470 people have been charged.

This included five men charged with violent disorder following an incident in Aldershot during which a police officer was injured.

Police were called to a demonstration outside the Potters International Hotel in the Hampshire town on July 31.

SEE ALSO: More arrests made following violent protest in Aldershot

The government has since activated emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding in parts of the country with Operation Early Dawn seeing defendants waiting for a court appearance kept in police cells until prison space is available.

Hampshire Constabulary’s deputy chief constable Sam de Reya previously vowed to protect communities following the “dreadful scenes of violence, disorder and racism across the country”, which began following the spread of misinformation after three girls were killed in Southport.

She said there was a “genuine sense of fear among our communities” adding: “I have heard that people are worried about leaving their own homes, despite having lived in their neighbourhoods all their lives. They worry about the safety of their children and are struggling to explain to them why they simply cannot go outside and enjoy the summer holidays like they normally would.

“Some of our local businesses have felt compelled to close early and board up their shops for fear that those intent on causing violence will target them next.

“I am disgusted that people have been made to feel this way. My job, and that of my colleagues, is to make sure you not only are safe, but feel safe.”

She said there is “no place for hate in Hampshire” and warned those if they commit violence and disorder “you will face the consequences of your actions”.