FIVE arrests were made after a group of masked men tried to raid an asylum hotel in London, as anti-asylum protests continued across the country over the weekend.

Two police officers suffered minor injuries after the group damaged security fences as they attempted to enter the Crowne Plaza near Heathrow airport through the rear entrance.

Other protesters moved towards the nearby Novotel on Cherry Lane and a Holiday Inn, while officers enforced cordons in the area to prevent a breach of the peace on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said.

The arrests happened during a march by two anti-asylum groups a day after the Home Office won a court challenge meaning asylum-seekers can continue to be housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.

Four men have been released on bail while one remained in custody on Sunday.

In Scotland, hundreds of counterprotesters faced off against angry activists who descended on a hotel housing asylum-seekers in Falkirk on Saturday.

Separate demonstrations were called by the Save Our Future and Our Kids Futures group in the town amid fears over alleged crimes linked to those housed at the Cladhan Hotel.

The first saw hundreds gather outside the office of Labour MP Euan Stainbank, where speeches were made, and people took aim at the Westminster government, the police and journalists who were covering the protest.

More than 200 people later assembled outside the nearby Cladhan Hotel, which is believed to house asylums-seekers waiting for their claims to be processed.

The group was met by about 200 counterprotesters from the trade union movement and the campaign group Stand Up to Racism.

Essex Police were braced for more unrest on Sunday after three men were arrested and two charged following a protest on Friday in Epping where two police officers were injured.

Ross Ellis, 49, of Harlow was charged with failing to provide a specimen and Jimmy Hillard, 52, of Loughton was charged with assaulting an emergency worker.

Police in Northamptonshire said that demonstrations on Saturday, where about 50 pro-immigration and 100 anti-immigration protesters had gathered outside a hotel, had been peaceful and no arrests had been made, while in Swindon, police said that protests near a hotel had also been peaceful.

On Sunday some 100 anti-racist campaigners faced off a dozen anti-migrant protesters gathered outside the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, London.