The founder of a charity to support refugees has described shocking scenes last night as "like a war zone".
Police in Kirkby were dealing with two groups of protesters after a demonstration descended into chaos outside the Suites Hotel in Ribblers Lane.
Footage sent to The Echo shows people taking what appear to be sledgehammers to a police vehicle. Further shocking images from the scene showed a police riot van, parked near to the gathering, initially being vandalised with graffiti before being set alight.
Clare Moseley, founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, said she was among 100 to 120 people from pro-migrant groups who went to the scene in reaction to the protest to show support for the asylum seekers. Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth said the demonstration was triggered by “an alleged incident on social media” and criticised misinformation claiming refugees were “feather-bedded” inside.
Read more: Three arrested after appalling scenes near hotel
Ms Moseley told the PA news agency: “I’m trying to get in touch with some of the poor men in that hotel, I can only imagine how frightened they are. It was like a war zone.”
Ms Moseley, 52, who founded the charity in 2015, said the scenes that followed were “really shocking” and have left her worried for the safety of the asylum seekers. She said she arrived at about 8.15pm and police had separated the protesters into their two respective groups before violence erupted.
She said: “Somebody said that one of the (opposing) protesters had got on top of the police van. And then next thing you know somebody says they’ve set the police van on fire!
“And you looked and you could see fire coming out of the window of the police van. And you think, how on earth could they have got past the police cordon, got to the police van, got on top of it? There was a lot of police there.
“And then next thing the police van just completely exploded and there was a lot of fire, there was clouds of smoke, lots more police started coming down the road. You could see there was fighting starting to break and then the police started going down there in full riot gear."
Labour MP Sir George Howarth said: “I have referred an alleged incident posted on social media, which has triggered a demonstration outside the Suites Hotel, to Merseyside Police and Knowsley Council. Until the police have investigated the matter, it is too soon to jump to conclusions and the effort on the part of some to inflame the situation is emphatically wrong.
“If an offence has been committed, the police should deal with it appropriately through due process. In addition, the misinformation about refugees being feather-bedded is untrue and intended to paint a picture that does not at all represent the facts.
“The people of Knowsley are not bigots and are welcoming to people escaping from some of the most dangerous places in the world in search of a place of safety. Those demonstrating against refugees at this protest tonight do not represent this community.
Read more: Chief Constable slams 'completely unacceptable' scenes
“We are not like that and overwhelmingly behave with sympathy and kindness to others regardless of where they come from.”
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