Placard-carrying residents clashed verbally with asylum seekers at a public meeting at Clacton.
The noisy meeting, which was attended by about 40 people, had been called to drum up support for refugees living in Tendring.
Several hotels in Clacton and Harwich are being used to house asylum seekers. And among those who attended were protesting neighbours.
The meeting at the West Road car park broke up following heated exchanges. It was called to launch a group of supporters called the Committee to Defend Refugees.
The main speaker was John Tipple, from Harwich, who is a member of the Socialist Workers Party and who denounced the protesters.
He said it was not the Albanians, Romanians, and Kosovans' fault they had been forced to flee their homelands and he called for support.
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