Peaceful protest facilitated in Epping
It happened at the Bell Hotel yesterday
Essex Police says it has facilitated a peaceful protest in Epping, which featured two separate groups of protestors yesterday.
To ensure those who wanted to protest peacefully and lawfully could do so safely we put in place some specific measures and to ensure the safety of our community.
This included a Section 60AA Order, banning face coverings and designating specific areas where protestors and counter-protestors could carry out their protest.
A group of people protesting against The Bell Hotel formed at around 1pm.
Officers then facilitated a march by a group of counter-protests from the tube station to their designated protest area at around 4pm, before then escorting them back a short time later.
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: “I want to thank those who attended for the peaceful nature of both protests.
“Our role is to ensure that you can express your democratic right to protest safely and lawfully and we had a proportionate and robust plan in place to ensure that could happen.
“I am pleased that today has passed off without incident and I am grateful to our colleagues from other forces for their support.”
Officers made three arrests:
A 52 year-old man from Loughton on suspicion of a public order offence;
A 53 year-old woman from Loughton on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence connected with a previous protest;
A 27 year-old woman on suspicion of criminal damage and a public order offence.
They are all currently in custody.