Stradey Park Hotel: Llanelli asylum seeker venue seeks protest limit

The owner of a hotel set to house asylum seekers is going to court to try to prevent protesters from hindering access to the site.

Protests began at Stradey Park Hotel, in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, when plans to host up to 241 asylum seekers were announced in June.

Gryphon Leisure Ltd will go the High Court on Tuesday to seek an interim injunction.

Its plan to host asylum seekers by 10 July has been disrupted by protesters.

Furnace Action Committee responded to the threat of legal action, asking people to support an online "fighting fund".

Documents filed at the High Court seek an injunction against "persons unknown" and a number of named individuals who live near the hotel.

They claim the owners "enjoy a right of way over the access way by ownership, prescription or implied easement".

The documents acknowledge ownership of the access point to the hotel "has not been identifiable" using Land Registry documents.

The 193-page document filed in court includes photographs of protesters and placards outside the hotel.

It alleges rights of access to the hotel have been "exercised without any restriction or payment for at least the last 23 years".

The owner wants the court to grant powers to prevent protesters from entering the hotel land, blocking any entrance, abandoning vehicles or fixing themselves to any object or to the hotel.

Furnace Action Committee claimed Gryphon Leisure had "picked on innocent locals to take to court" and that some of the local residents have "serious health issues".

The group hopes to raise at least £10,000 online to fund legal action to "defend the cause."

The court action by Essex-based Gryphon Leisure follows a failed High Court bid by Carmarthenshire council to stop the company's plans.

It is due to be heard at The Royal Courts of Justice in London.