An asylum seeker living in migrant accommodation at an ex-RAF base has been accused of assaulting a local woman in an RSPCA shop, a court has heard.

Ramadhani Matenga, 30, appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday to deny charges of common assault and criminal damage.

He was charged after an alleged confrontation at the Danaher RSPCA shop, in Braintree, Essex, in May.

Sarah Thompson, prosecuting, said Matenga, who spoke through a Swahili interpreter, is an asylum seeker living at the former Wethersfield RAF base. 

The base houses 800 single male asylum seekers aged between 18 and 65. 

Locals in the parish have previously said they feel unsafe to be around the migrant accommodation. 

Campaigners have begun weekly protests to call for the closure of the former RAF base after the Home Office announced its use would be extended beyond 2027. 

Right-wing activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, joined up to 1,000 protesters in January. 

They carried flags and a banner that said 'Essex Voices Matter' and 'we will not be silenced'.

The site at the old Wethersfield airfield has housed single adult men seeking asylum since July 2023. 

Migrants at the facility are provided with a shuttle bus three times a day to the neighbouring areas of Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford. 

Matenga's trial, which will take place at Colchester Magistrates' Court, is expected to begin next year.

Matenga, of RAF Wethersfield, was released on conditional bail not to enter Braintree town centre or contact any prosecution witnesses.