Protesters calling for the closure of The Bell Hotel in Epping.

The government’s attempts to deal with the rising numbers of asylum seekers coming to the UK has been thrown into chaos by a High Court ruling.

Tory-run Epping Forest District Council secured a major legal victory on Tuesday when it successfully argued that asylum seekers should not be housed in a hotel in their area.

Now local authorities across England are planning to launch similar legal actions to end the practice in their areas.

If they were also successful, that would be a massive political headache for home secretary Yvette Cooper and her department, who would potentially be forced to find alternative accommodation for thousands of immigrants.

More than 32,000 asylum seekers are currently housed in 210 hotels across the UK, despite Labour’s pre-election pledge to close them all.

What Is The Background To The Epping Case?

The Bell Hotel in Epping has been at the centre of a series of protests and counter-protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month.

A second man who stays at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed........

© HuffPost