An injunction that is set to temporarily block asylum seekers from being housed at an Essex hotel creates a “risk of a precedent being set”, the Court of Appeal has heard.

Lawyers for the Home Office and the Bell Hotel in Epping are trying to lift an injunction on the hotel being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

At the start of a day-long hearing, barristers said the order to clear the hotel of 138 asylum seekers had been made without taking into account the precedent it would set.

Edward Brown KC, for the home secretary, said: “The judge erred in declining to allow the Secretary of State to participate in the proceedings, given her unique institutional competence and her statutory duty.”

The court was told that the outcome of the case was of national importance because of the wider impact it could have on the asylum accommodation programme.

Last week, Mr Justice Eyre ruled the hotel cannot be used to accommodate asylum seekers from 12 September after an injunction sought by Epping Forest District Council.

The council claimed that planning rules had been breached. It asked for it to be granted after thousands of people protested against the use of the hotel as asylum seeker accommodation.

Somani Hotels Limited said in a written submission to the court: “The issue of the use of hotels for asylum seekers is one of national importance and scrutiny.”

Other councils have suggested that they will go to court to seek similar injunctions against the use of hotels in their areas.