It is a charming historic market town set in the rolling English countryside, surrounded by chocolate box villages and once famed as a centre for the wool and silk trade.

But the peace and quiet of Braintree has been shattered in recent months as the Essex town has found itself on the frontline of unrest over asylum seekers – with concern of a mounting risk of public disorder.

Braintree is less than seven miles from the former RAF Wethersfield site which began to house migrants when 46 single adult men first arrived more than three years ago in July 2023.

The number of asylum seekers on the former military base has soared since then with 800 currently there, making it the UK's biggest migrant camp, and that population is set to increase still further to 1,250 in line with Government policy to cut back on using hotels to house new arrivals.

Tensions have been inflamed due to the number of men from Wethersfield walking around Braintree to escape the confines of the camp, despite them having a range of leisure facilities there including a fully equipped gym and access to art and dance classes, gardening, cricket coaching and English lessons.

While there is no known record of any conviction for serious incidents of criminality in the town linked to the camp, there has been a claim of assault on a woman.

And amid regular reports of crimes committed by migrants elsewhere, some locals have complained of feeling intimidated by the presence of mainly 'unvetted' young men with unknown backgrounds wandering unescorted.

But some locals are also concerned about the number of anti-migrant campaigners being drawn to the area by Wethersfield's 'biggest camp in Britain' status.

As long ago as May 23 this year, one local woman posted a video of migrants in the town waiting to be picked up with a caption saying: 'Thankfully a friend walked me to the bus stop the other night. It's extremely intimidating walking past groups of undocumented men in Braintree. Women and children aren't safe.'

Concerns mounted further after an asylum seeker was arrested and later charged over an alleged assault on a woman in one of the town's charity shops. He is due to stand trial at Colchester magistrates court next year.

Peter Harris, the leader of Reform-controlled Essex County Council, drew attention to the issue this week when he claimed that 'a squadron' of 17 minibuses were kept at the camp to take residents into Braintree as well as nearby Colchester and Chelmsford, as the Mail reported.

The most common day for migrants to venture into Braintree used to be Thursdays when the refugee-support charity Care4Calais ran a drop-in centre for them at the town's Salvation Army church.

With a £9.95 weekly allowance, they are unable to make meaningful purchases or eat in cafes and restaurants. Instead, they suck at cigarettes on street corners or lounge around enjoying the fresh air and giving off an air of idleness that feels – at least to the people of Essex – provocative at best. 

The weekly event regularly attracts placard-waving protesters and an assortment of so-called auditors and Right-wing YouTubers, sometimes apparently deliberately intimidating asylum seekers by thrusting cameras in their faces and trying to produce viral video clips.

Unpleasant scenes of bullying, goading and confrontation have added to fears of escalation.

One clip, shared by Nigel Farage to his 2.3million followers on X, showed a group of migrants sitting around waiting for their minibuses to pick them up on the edge of Braintree town centre for the 20-minute drive back to the camp.

Reform leader Mr Farage added his own caption to the clip, saying: 'Another day in @JamesCleverly's constituency. Unless we get a Reform government, every town in Britain will look like this.'

The video taken by self-described 'citizen journalist' Anthony Barnes, known as AY Audits, featured migrants trying to hide their faces and trying to dodge out of his way during one of the recent heatwaves as he taunted them.

Mr Barnes, who also nicknames himself 'The Hotel Inspector' due to his frequent confrontations with security staff at hotels housing asylum seekers, can be heard in the video, saying: 'Look here. This is Braintree.'

The video featured him pointing out that the migrants had bought themselves 'crates of water' before he singled out one carrying a pharmacy bag, asking him: 'You got your prescription? You got your medicine?'

Turning to another group, he adds: 'They've all got new phones though' before sarcastically greeting them with his camera in his hand, saying: 'Hello, how are you all?'

In his own post of his clip on X, Mr Barnes adds a message stating: 'How would you like this in your town every week.'

Other social media users re-posted his clip, describing Braintree as 'a town being invaded'.

Another video by Mr Barnes which had 173,000 views on his YouTube channel showed him and other content creators filming the arrival of migrants from RAF Wethersfield in the town two weeks ago.

During the video, an asylum seeker apparently gestures by spitting on the ground in front of the watching auditors as he gets out of the third minibus to arrive from the base during the morning.

Mr Barnes filmed himself following the migrant and his friends while shouting that he was an 'absolute scumbag', a 'disgusting creature' and an 'ungrateful bastard'.

Later he walked after one of the minibus drivers, telling him: 'Whatever possessed you to get a job driving these up and down into communities like this?'

The video later features Mr Barnes and other creators moving on to the Salvation Army which had security guards outside to stop them heading down the driveway to the church where many of the asylum seekers had gone.

The Mail has now established that the drop-in centre where migrants could get access to donated items such as clothing, hot drinks, food and community support, stopped operating after the intimidating video was filmed.

A volunteer at the church on Thursday this week blamed the suspension of the centre on 'security' concerns, and was unable to say if it was likely to start up again.

Only one minibus made the journey from RAF Wethersfield to Braintree on Thursday, leading to speculation that the closure of the centre had led to migrants deciding to stay away or being put into a partial lockdown.

The five asylum seekers on the minibus spent the morning walking around the town centre separately with one apparently buying himself a suitcase, and another seemingly spending most of his time on video calls to friends before they were picked up and taken back to their camp.

Reporters who watched access roads to and from the camp on Wednesday morning also saw no minibuses carrying passengers.

It was revealed earlier this year that social activities for migrants at RAF Wethersfield were largely being funded by a Home Office 'Asylum Large Sites and Vessels' grant of £50,000, funnelled through Braintree district council.

Just over £14,000 was then spent on art and dance classes by Art Refuge; the Braintree branch of the Catholic Church's St Vincent de Paul Society got £17,490 to run gardening, art and English lessons; £7,650 went on cricket coaching and £10,750 on other sports.

It was also revealed that ice cream giants Ben & Jerry's UK Fund had paid out for photography and rambling,

Nathan Robins, 20, a Reform county and district councillor, told the Mail earlier this month: 'People were already worried about the use of the base - and now they're fed up with the fact that the migrants are having cricket and martial arts classes

'Local people are concerned about whether they've enough money to make it to the end of the month - and they're seeing cash spent on people who arrived in the country illegally.

'The easiest solution is to detain migrants who arrive in dinghies - and deport them. The taxpayer shouldn't have to pay for art and sport classes for people here illegally.'

A small group of migrants sued the Home Office two years ago for being 'inhumanely' housed at RAF Wethersfield, winning their case.

High Court judge Timothy Mould ruled that three anonymised migrants, dinghy arrivals from Afghanistan, Somalia and Eritrea, were accommodated unlawfully there because the camp did not meet their needs following trauma from past violence, trafficking or torture.

He did so after being told that there were then 585 migrants at Wethersfield, largely in former RAF family accommodation, and receiving three meals a day while being 'free to come and go'.

Essex County Council's Reform leader Mr Harris dubbed the Wethersfield asylum centre as 'Holiday Camp UK' after his official visit there and wrote that 'residents want for practically nothing'.

He added: 'There's a fully equipped gymnasium, a fitness room, a full-sized football pitch and a substantial indoor sports hall with all the equipment for five-a-side soccer, basketball and cricket – all free.

'For those who want to kick back and take it easy, there are recreation rooms with televisions and pool tables, and a snack bar.

'Mobile phones are provided for all, with generous allowances for free calls. The main restaurant, serving two dining halls, provides three meals a day with a wide choice of meals, including vegetarian options.

'All the food is free. The only restriction is that all meat is halal – non-Muslims don't get a choice about that.

'Similarly, though the prayer rooms are described as a multi-faith area, most of the religious material is Islamic, with plenty of Korans and no Bibles. Prayer mats cover almost all the available floor space.'