Live updates as protesters and counter protesters gather outside Manchester hotel - latest

A protest and counter protest are taking place outside a hotel in south Manchester on Sunday afternoon (August 31).

There are currently reports of around 60 people protesting against asylum seekers staying in hotels. There are reportedly around 200 counter demonstrators also protesting in Fallowfield.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police can also been seen in pictures and videos from Wilmslow Road.

It is the latest in a series of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers across the UK, including Cresta Court in Altrincham and the Victoria Hotel in Chadderton.

The epicentre of the protests has been the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, where earlier this week the Court of Appeal turned around an order to stop the hotel from housing asylum seekers.

Over the last few weeks, there have been demonstrations in major towns and cities around England, including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley in Surrey and Canary Wharf in central London.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "We respect and facilitate the right to lawful protest.

"As ever, appropriate plans have been put in place with the organisers and local partners to minimise disruption for those who live and work in the area."

This is a breaking story. Live updates will appear in the blog below...

The atmosphere is "tense" outside the Best Western Hotel in Fallowfield as a group of anti-migrant protestors face a group of counter protestors.

Our reporter James reported that there are explicit chants being shouted at the protest.

The atmosphere is tense here this afternoon. Counter chants of “immigrant b**tards” and others which I cannot type are being shouted back by a group of