KB-2025-002908 - [2025] EWHC 2937 (KB)

Mr Salmon has held the post of Group Operations Director of Somani Group Holdings since May 2022. His responsibilities include oversight of operation of the hotels and care homes within the Somani Group, which includes the Bell.

The Defendant closed the hotel at the Bell in March 2020, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions which were put in place at that time. Mr Salmon’s evidence was that the Bell had been in operational decline for many years. His understanding was that the hotel had ceased to be the local community hub that it had been some 20 years ago, for social gatherings and weddings. As a result of declining operations, in 2008 the Defendant had sought and been granted planning permission for the development of a care home at the site. The schedule of planning history produced by Mr Stubbs records the grant of outline planning permission in 2008 for the partial demolition of the Bell Inn and erection of a new extension and care home. Reserved matters are recorded as having been approved in 2011.

Between 22 May 2020 and 4 March 2021, the Bell was used to accommodate asylum seekers. That period of its use for that purpose took place under a contract between the Defendant and CRHL, acting as service provider to the Home Secretary.

Mr Stubbs has been in post as the Claimant’s Planning and Enforcement Compliance Manager since early October 2022. Having consulted the Claimant’s enforcement records, he says that in July 2020 the Claimant received a complaint that the Bell was being used in breach of planning control, to provide accommodation for asylum seekers. On 2 July 2020, a planning enforcement officer, Mr Ayres, made enquiries of the Defendant. On 8 July 2020, Mr Hassan Somani replied, stating that the hotel had been closed and the staff furloughed in accordance with lockdown restrictions. CRHL had approached the Defendant with a view to using the Bell to provide emergency accommodation for asylum seekers. The Home Office had booked rooms at the Bell through CRHL as they had done in hotels across the country. Mr Somani said –

“We do not accept that the use had changed, The Bell is a hotel and we are providing rooms on a nightly basis with meals included. We can confirm the date that we re-opened was 22 May”.

Mr Somani said that the Defendant did not intend or expect to accommodate asylum seekers at the Bell beyond the end of the COVID-19 crisis. The Defendant would like to return as soon as possible to “business as usual”.

From further documents produced from the Claimant’s files during the course of the hearing before me, it appears that on 14 September 2020, Mr Ayres sent an email to a local resident in response to two letters. In his email, Mr Ayres said that the Claimant was currently investigating the use of the Bell and that once those investigations were complete, the local resident would be informed of any enforcement action considered necessary.

On 27 May 2021, Mr Ayres sent an email to Mr Somani asking him to confirm “the current use of the hotel”. On 28 May 2021 Mr Somani replied, stating that although currently closed “the Bell Hotel’s current use remains unchanged and is still used as a hotel”. On 1 June 2021 Mr Ayres wrote again saying that he wished to clarify whether the hotel was still being used to house asylum seekers/refugees and not tourists. On the same day, Mr Somani replied that the hotel had been closed for quite a while, was completely empty and that there were no tourists, asylum seekers or refugees at the hotel. Mr Ayres expressed the hope that the Defendant would shortly be able to get back to “normal business operations”.

Mr Salmon’s evidence was that following some “light refurbishments” the hotel reopened in August 2022, with staff numbers reduced from 14 people prior to lockdown in March 2020 to 5 people, reflecting very low trading performance and bedroom occupancy rates.