Residents at a hotel housing asylum seekers were seen engaging in a fight, hurling rocks, and attempting to climb the building’s walls, causing nearby neighbors to hide fearfully in their homes.
Video taken outside the Highfield House Hotel in Southampton, Hampshire, captures a bearded man wearing a red shirt yelling towards someone apparently inside the building.
Speaking in a foreign tongue, the two exchange heated words before the man outside starts climbing towards a window on the first floor. He gestures and shouts at the person inside as several onlookers gather.
Moments later, he drops back to the ground and hurls a rock at the window, sending onlookers ducking for cover.
In another segment, the same individual can be seen at the entrance, kicking the door and trying to enter forcefully, only to be pulled back by another man trying to pacify him.
According to the Southampton Times, locals heard the commotion around 2am on Tuesday morning.
One resident said: ‘It was aggressive shouting, fighting, and then the unmistakable noise of glass smashing.
One resident expressed: ‘It’s alarming, intimidating, and leaves me feeling angry. This isn’t the first time I’ve been jolted awake at 1am by aggressive noise and behavior, disrupting my sleep and peace of mind.’
In another clip, the same man is seen at the front entrance, kicking the door and trying to force his way in
Footage taken outside the Highfield House Hotel in Southampton, Hampshire, features a bearded man in a red top yelling before he starts to scale towards a first-floor window.
One local said he filmed the altercation in the hope that the local council and police would take notice.
Another told the website that ongoing tensions between Kurdish and Iranian residents inside the hotel may have sparked the unrest.
An unnamed person told the publication that tensions between Kurdish and Iranian residents at the hotel could be behind the unrest.
The Daily Mail has approached the Highfield House Hotel and Hampshire Constabulary for more information.
Companies House filings show the firm operating the hotel recorded pre-tax profits of £1.98million for the year ending 31 December 2024 – averaging more than £38,000 a week.
It marks a sharp rise from the previous year, with profits of £1.45million.
The hotel has been at the centre of anti-immigration protests held last month. Demonstrators held Union Jack and St George’s flags outside the site, whilst counter protesters held signs saying ‘Refugees Welcome’.
Hampshire Constabulary said it was investigating an ‘extremely dangerous’ arson attack after a flare was pushed through a ground-floor window of the hotel during demonstrations on September 1.
Officers said they were trying to trace two people wearing hooded tops, one in white, the other in dark clothing, who were seen approaching and then fleeing the scene on Shaftesbury Avenue.
The hotel in Southampton has been at the centre of controversy in recent months, including anti-immigration protests held last month
Tensions ran high nationwide after a wave of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers over the summer.
The unrest was sparked by demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, following the case of an Ethiopian asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a woman and a 14-year-old girl in the town.
Hadush Kebatu, 38, who arrived in the UK on a small boat just days before the attacks in July, was jailed for 12 months at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last month.
His crimes triggered widespread anger, with violent scenes erupting outside the hotel where migrants were being housed.
Three men involved in the disorder were jailed this month, including one who climbed onto a roof and rang a bell to incite the chaos.
Martin Peagram, Dean Smith and Stuart Williams were all sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court after admitting violent disorder.
