New Delhi, Aug. 30 -- Britain's Court of Appeal on Friday overturned a ban on asylum-seekers from being housed at a hotel northeast of London that has been the site of protests for weeks and has become a political flashpoint across the country.

The three-person panel backed the Labour government's appeal against the temporary injunction granted by a High Court judge last week that would have required the 138 asylum-seekers currently staying at the Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex, to leave by Sept. 12.

The government was particularly worried that the High Court decision could have been a catalyst for other similar decisions around the country, which would have thrown its policies for housing asylum-seekers into disarray.

"We conclude that ...