Eight people have been arrested in Sunderland for offences including violent disorder and burglary after another night of rioting and disorder in parts of the UK.
Three police officers were taken to hospital after being injured, Northumbria police added. One had since been discharged.
At least one building was reportedly set on fire, and a car was also overturned and set alight as police struggled to control a crowd of several hundred protesters.
Some of the protesters wore balaclavas and some were draped in the England flag, with police officers being hit with beer cans and stones in the city centre and a nearby mosque on St Mark’s Road.
Posting on social media about the building on fire, Nick Lowles, from the organisation Hope Not Hate, said: “A far right and racist protest has culminated in this. Shame on all those who continue to excuse these protests.”
It was initially reported that a police building had been set on fire but later reports suggested an adjacent building was instead set alight.
An overturned car was set on fire and rioters set off fire extinguishers against officers.
The protests, promoted by far-right activists on social media, had started at the newly refurbished Keel Square. Footage posted on social media showed young men throwing stones at police and shouting “Whose streets? Our streets” as well as Islamophobic chants.
The Sunderland protest was among several planned across the UK this weekend after the knife attack in Southport on Monday, fuelled by misinformation on social media about the background and religion of the 17-year-old suspect.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “Criminals attacking the police and stoking disorder on our streets will pay the price for their violence and thuggery.
“The police have the full backing of government to take the strongest possible action and ensure they face the full force of the law.
“They do not represent Britain.”
Extra prosecutors were called in to work the weekend as police forces around the country brace for further disorder.
Stephen Parkinson, director of public prosecutions, said: “We take the recent incidents of violent disorder extremely seriously and we are ready to respond rapidly if there is a fresh outbreak.
“We have deployed dozens of extra prosecutors who are working round the clock this weekend, supporting the police, and ready to make immediate charging decisions so that justice is swiftly delivered.”
North East mayor Kim McGuinness wrote on X: “I’m appalled by the scenes from Sunderland. Make no mistake, if your response to tragedy is to use it to commit violence, to abuse others, attack the police and damage property you stand for nothing except thuggery. It’s not protest.
“It’s crime and disorder. You don’t speak for Sunderland. You don’t speak for this region. Those grieving in Southport will take no comfort from this.
“We believe that the community here in Southport, and the country as a whole, must now come together to challenge hatred based on people’s identities. In particular, the rising levels of Islamophobia must not be allowed to fester in our society.”
Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson said he was “appalled” by disorder in the city centre.
He wrote on X: “Our city is not represented by a tiny minority causing trouble.
“[Northumbria police] have my full support as they respond to criminal thuggery and work to protect all the communities of our city.
“Tomorrow the people of Sunderland will come together and continue to build the bright future that we have – a future where every community of our city feels safe and prospers.”
Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus said it was asked by police to close Sunderland Rail Station at about 10.15pm and bus company Go North East said it would stop its services short of Sunderland overnight except for one which would terminate at Barnes.
A cinema in the city, Omniplex Sunderland, was also forced to close “in the interest of public and staff safety”.
The education secretary and Sunderland MP, Bridget Phillipson, described the unrest in the city as “unforgivable violence”.
“The scenes in our city centre tonight are shocking. We have seen unforgivable violence and thuggery,” she said.
“The criminals involved in this appalling disorder must be identified, prosecuted and punished with the full force of the law.
“Sunderland is better than this and these thugs do not represent our city.”
In Liverpool, the far right were outnumbered several fold by anti-fascist groups. Minor scuffles early in the evening were quickly stopped by police and by 9pm only a handful of far-right protesters remained, standing under trees across the road from Abdullah Quilliam society mosque trying not to get rained on.
A group of men standing opposite the anti-fascists did not quite have the confidence to admit they were far right, telling the Guardian they had only “come for a look”, with balaclavas on.
Hope Not Hate said up to 35 protests were due to take place across the UK this weekend “under a broad anti-multiculturalism, anti-Muslim and anti-government agenda”.
They include Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster, Glasgow, Hanley, High Wycombe, Hull, Liverpool, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Preston, St Helens, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon and Wrexham.
