Residents in Thetford have described fear, frustration and uncertainty after three nights of disorder linked to the use of houses in the Norfolk town to accommodate asylum seekers.
Police said crowds attempted to break into properties believed to be housing asylum seekers, with windows smashed, fences damaged and officers subjected to violence. By Friday, six people had been arrested in connection with disorder in different parts of the town.
On one residential street on the edge of Thetford, signs of the unrest remained visible, including a smashed window pane and broken eggshells on a footpath. Local people said concerns had been growing over the placement of asylum seekers in houses of multiple occupation, commonly known as HMOs, and the lack of consultation with residents.
Jenny Hollis, a former councillor, said residents were worried about safety and the proximity of a school and nursery to one of the houses that had been targeted. “The main concern is safety, the proximity of children and that people just have not been consulted about this,” she said.
She said Thetford was a small town where many people knew one another, adding that the arrival of people about whom residents had little information had caused concern. Her comments referred to asylum seekers being housed in the area.
Norfolk constabulary said the most serious scenes included a crowd of up to 200 people gathered on Wednesday night, chanting “We want them out” on the targeted street. A male police officer was hit by a brick and a female officer was seriously bitten, the force said.
Police said asylum seekers were removed from properties on Thursday for their safety. There was no answer at a number of homes believed to have been used for asylum accommodation when reporters visited the area.
The disorder has prompted concern among residents and local representatives that misinformation, racism and far-right activity could deepen tensions in the town. One woman, originally from eastern Europe and living near the scene of the unrest, said she had lived in Thetford for more than a decade and considered it home, but that the past week had been unsettling.
“The people are lovely, but last week was the first time that my partner was shouted at by someone who derided him as a ‘migrant’,” she said.
Another resident said he lived between two HMOs used to house asylum seekers. He said those accommodated there had generally kept to themselves, but he was worried about rising tensions in the area and the possible effect on property values.
The unrest has raised wider questions about the use of HMOs to house asylum seekers, particularly in cheaper and working-class areas. It also follows recent anti-immigration tensions elsewhere in England, including protests last year around a hotel outside Epping in Essex.
Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, said the disorder had “put Thetford back decades” and criticised what he described as a failure by the Home Office to engage properly with the community and elected representatives.
“The lack of engagement both with the community and elected officials has been a huge concern, along with the apparent lack of a strategy, in terms of a cohesive plan, but also to close down rumours and the spread of misinformation,” he said.
Jermy said he supported the right to peaceful protest and recognised that residents had concerns, but condemned the violence and attempts to target properties.
“What we have seen over the last few days is outright criminality, mob rule and vigilante-style antics which go way beyond the rule of law,” he said. “These people – and in many cases I’m talking about those who have travelled to Thetford – claim to be proud to be British, but to be proud to be British is to support the rule of law.”
Protesters in Thetford have targeted a list of houses believed to be used by Serco, which holds a multimillion-pound contract with the Home Office to provide asylum accommodation. A Serco spokesperson said the company worked under the direction of the Home Office, which tells it the number of people it expects to house in local authority areas based on national demand.
The Home Office has said the use of “large sites” forms a key part of its asylum accommodation strategy. It said the number of asylum seekers in hotels had fallen by 35% in the past year and by 63% from a peak of 56,000 in 2023.
Far-right activists have also circulated footage from the protests on social media. Accounts linked to Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, have shared clips from the town. In one video, a man can be seen directing crowds towards an address while using the term “invaders”.
Figures from Reform UK have taken a prominent interest in local opposition to HMOs being used for asylum accommodation. Scott Hussey, a member of the cabinet on Reform-controlled Norfolk county council, attended the scene on Friday and said residents were frustrated at seeing their town turned into what he called “a dumping ground for illegal immigrants”.
Hussey said his understanding from a meeting with the Home Office was that more HMOs would be sited in Thetford. He said this would add to tensions over separate proposals to use nearby RAF Barnham to house asylum seekers. Plans to accommodate 3,750 migrants at the former base were revealed in June.
Some of those involved in this week’s Thetford protests have also taken part in regular demonstrations outside RAF Barnham.
Anna Turley, the minister for border security and asylum, told GB News on Friday that people had a right to protest but described the disorder in Thetford as “horrendous”.
“What we’ve seen is spilling over into violence, which is just not acceptable,” she said. “Nobody should feel harassed, intimidated or threatened in their home, and certainly we shouldn’t see our emergency workers and our police attacked in the way that we have seen.”
