Fewer than 15 people were arrested in Hampshire last year due to anti-migrant protests.

Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones stated that recent protests in Hampshire have been linked to asylum seekers being housed in local migrant hotels.

On Saturday, July 26, anti-migrant protesters gathered outside the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, Portsmouth, against “illegal men being housed in hotels”.

On Friday, July 24, in Southampton, a group of protestors gathered outside Highfield House Hotel in Highfield Lane, for a “peaceful” protest, with officers from Hampshire Constabulary at the scene to maintain public safety.

There have also been a series of protests outside Potters International Hotel in Aldershot.

Ms Jones said that although protests in parts of the country escalated into more violent confrontations, in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, “we are quite fortunate” as the majority of the protests are “quite legitimate”.

Mrs Jones said: “People made their points, they came along, very often the organiser would tell police officers in advance where they were going to be, and the police don’t often need to really hold the line because no one wants to get hurt.

“They want to make their points, and they want to go home; that’s largely what happens.”

The commissioner said that quite often, when “tensions get heightened”, it is when there have been direct threats towards those people coming in and out of the hotels.

“That’s often when tensions get heightened and the police need to step it out a bit”, she said.

In Hampshire, the commissioner said a total of under 15 arrests have been made in the last year in relation to anti-migrant protests.

“When you think about the fact that we are having this protest almost weekly, particularly up in Aldershot, that’s pretty good.”