Overview
- Ceno Bar and Restaurant closed on January 1 after two decades, blaming operational issues linked to the adjoining Highfield House Hotel and saying it aims to relocate and reopen in the spring.
- Southampton Stand Up To Racism argues sustained far-right demonstrations since last summer drove customers away, saying the venue had coexisted with the hotel since 2020 before protests escalated.
- Volunteers have moved homeless people into the vacant premises, with an organiser saying three are staying and more are being vetted, alongside calls to convert the site into a night shelter and to compensate the former business.
- Southampton City Council states the shelter is unauthorised and that responsibility for lawful use and safety rests with the property owner, while Hampshire Constabulary reports near-weekly engagement with no concerns raised and no known criminal damage.
- Local MP Satvir Kaur condemns antisocial and unlawful behaviour linked to protests and backs the government’s plan to end the use of asylum hotels, echoed by a Home Office pledge to close them.