Tensions had been building since the Government in June proposed moving thousands of asylum seekers into disused military facilities to clear hotels across the country currently housing migrants. One of these proposed sites, RAF Barnham, is located about two miles south of Thetford town centre. Some protesters targeted residential properties they believed were housing asylum seekers, police said, adding that some asylum seekers had to be escorted from homes as a result of the unrest. “I think the town would get ruined because it’s quite small and that many new people would stick out,” he said. Norfolk Police have not commented on where the Thetford protesters came from, or the possibility of outside influence.