Around 40 people, many wearing balaclavas and other face coverings, gathered outside a four-star Marriott hotel in Portsmouth after mistaking members of Pakistan’s under-19 cricket team for asylum seekers.

As per the details, the group was reacting to reports that a “coach carrying foreign men” had arrived at the hotel, however, the men turned out to be members of Pakistan’s U-19 squad, who are currently touring southern England.

Reform councillor George Madgwick was called to the scene to help resolve the situation. Hotel staff had already told the crowd that the guests were cricketers, not asylum seekers.

“I went out to the protesters and told them, ‘You’ve got it wrong guys, it’s a cricket club.’ They left within a couple of minutes,” Madgwick said, calling the episode a “massively unfortunate incident”.

He explained that the confusion likely arose because the coach transporting the cricket team belonged to the same company that had recently transported asylum seekers who arrived in Portsmouth by small boat.

Madgwick linked the incident to wider tensions around asylum seekers in the city following recent protests and unrest. Still, he admitted that people gathering outside a hotel simply because foreign men had arrived was far from acceptable.

“It doesn’t make our city look like the welcoming city it is,” he said, adding that the reaction reflected local concerns about immigration.

The protest comes during a period of wider unrest in Portsmouth. On Sunday, hundreds of people, many wearing balaclavas, clashed with police after a dinghy carrying asylum seekers reached the city’s coastline from France.

Police are now investigating allegations of assault and criminal damage linked to the confrontation.

A day earlier, crowds dressed in black and wearing face coverings blocked roads near the port of Dover. Far-right activist Daniel Thomas claimed responsibility for organising both demonstrations.

The incident at the Portsmouth hotel also raised concern among cricket officials. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) contacted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to check on the wellbeing of the young players and is now reviewing security arrangements for the rest of the tour.

Pakistan’s under-19 side has been playing a series of matches against England’s under-19 team. They lost a four-day Test by 10 runs last week, but bounced back in the one-day series, beating England by 177 runs in the first ODI at Arundel on Wednesday.

The second ODI is scheduled for Guildford on Saturday, September 12.