UK police arrests 3 protesters for 'violent disorder'

LONDON

British police arrested three protesters Friday following a clash near a hotel housing asylum-seekers in northwestern England.

Merseyside police said earlier that officers are "dealing with two groups of protesters" in Prescot as they were "facilitating an initially peaceful protest and counter protest" on Ribblers Lane.

"During the evening, missiles have been thrown towards officers and damage caused to a police vehicle," said police, adding no injuries have been reported.

Road closures remain in place near the area where police presence has been increased after clashes erupted.

"A total of three people have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and taken to police stations to be questioned," said police.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul White said that police will always respect the right to peaceful protest but the scenes Friday were "completely unacceptable."

"Thankfully we have not had any serious injuries reported up to this point, but for officers and police vehicles to be damaged in the course of their duty protecting the public is disgraceful," he added.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the disturbance was broken in the Knowsley area of Liverpool after several hundred far-right demonstrators arrived to protest asylum seekers who have been housed in a hotel by the Home Office.

"Anti-fascist demonstrators also attended and one demonstrator said the far-right protestors had split into three groups and had surrounded the smaller number of anti-fascist protestors," it reported.