Map shows where riots have broken out across UK with dozens more planned (2024)

A six-day wave of violent unrest fuelled by anti-immigrant fury and misinformation peaked over the weekend and threatens to continue.

More than twenty towns, mostly in northern England, saw rallies descend into riots with dozens of police officers injured and more than 100 people arrested.

Scenes included ‘race checkpoints’ set up by mobs in Middlesborough, and the setting of fires in hotels in Rotherham and Tamworth believed to be housing asylum seekers.

The disorder began when a mob of agitators hijacked a vigil for the three girls stabbed to death at a dance class in Southport on Tuesday.

Similar scenes of violent disorder were then seen in London, Manchester, Hartlepool, and Liverpool over the following three days before rioters descended on Sunderland. Plymouth saw violent scenes last night as three police officers were injured.

Follow Metro.co.uk’s live blog for updates from the UK riots

Greater Manchester Police said a dispersal notice had been authorised for the city centre to deal with planned demonstrations on Saturday.

Officers also mounted a significant security operation in Belfast city centre, after a small group of anti-Islamic protesters gathered at the front of City Hall, chanting ‘Islam Out’.

Chaos across the UK

The unrest poses the biggest challenge yet of Sir Keir Starmer‘s premiership, evoking the scale of public disorder last seen during the 2011 riots.

There were a series of riots in August 2011 in cities and towns across England, which started in Tottenham Hale, north east London, after the killing of Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police on August 4.

On Thursday,Sir Keir announced a new ‘national’ response to the disorder linking police forces across the country through shared intelligence and the expanded use of facial recognition.

Southport, Liverpool, Sunderland,Hartlepool, London, Manchester, Plymouth and more have all seen outbreaks of violence.

Plymouth

Plymouthbecame the latest city to be rampaged by far-right rioters on August 5, police have arrested six people.

The anti-immigration demonstrators gathered in Guildhallat around 3.30pm and tired to confront a Stand Up To Racism counter-rally.

Police said in a 11.25pm update that six people have been arrested. Police and people were injured, with two taken to hospital.

‘Violence will not be tolerated, hate will not be tolerated, and we will continue to work with our partners to keep the people of Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly safe and reduce anti-social behaviour,’ the police said in a news release.

Rotherham

Much of the attention on Sunday was focused on Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

In the early afternoon, a large group of around 700 people descended on a Holiday Inn, which was being used to temporarily house asylum seekers.

The mob threw bricks, chairs and planks of wood at police officers dressed in riot gear, while windows were smashed.

A flaming bin was pushed against a broken window in an apparent attempt to set the building alight with staff and residents trapped inside.

The fire was quickly put out and police soon regained control, but people trapped inside said they were ‘scared’ for their live.

Among those who condemned the actions of the crowd in Rotherham were Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard.

Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered MP Jo Cox, described the incident as an ‘attempt to murder the men, women & children inside by burning them alive’.

Tamworth

A large mob gathered outside the Hilton Holiday Inn hotel in Tamworth, Staffordshire, on Sunday evening following social media posts claiming it’s being used to house asylum seekers.

Police were unable to contain the crowd for some time and yobs managed to smash windows and start a fire on the ground floor.

The fire continued to blaze late into Sunday night, with footage showing rioters running loose in between the building and a police cordon.

Police said staff were still inside the building when the fire was set, though it’s not clear whether asylum seekers or other guests were present.

Petrol bombs, bricks and other projectiles were lobbed at officers as they tried to bring the situation under control and one officer was severely injured.

Middlesbrough

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A hundreds-strong protest outside a mosque in Middlesbrough on Sunday afternoon quickly turned to chaos, with cars set on fire and burning wheelie bins shoved towards police officers.

The mob was filmed attacking homes at random, smashing windows with bricks and stones.

At one point, thugs occupied a nearby junction and tried to set up a checkpoint where they stopped cars to check whether drivers were ‘white and English’ before letting them through.

More than 43 people have been arrested and detectives believe more will be rounded up.

Belfast

A confrontation between anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters in Belfast city centre required a significant police response.

The two groups were exchanging insults and a small number of fireworks and other missiles have been thrown amid tense exchanges in front of the City Hall.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Land Rovers and officers in riot gear were separating the two groups.

Hundreds of people turned up for an anti-racist counter-protest in the heart of the city centre after social media calls for an anti-immigration demonstration in the city in the wake of the murders of three young children in Southport.

There were speeches and anti-Nazi chanting at the rally, which featured trade union banners and Palestinian flags.

On August 5, petrol bombs, heavy masonry and bricks were hurled by rioters and one police vehicle was engulfed by flames as the 100-strong people took to the streets of the Sandy Row and Donegall Road areas.

Manchester

Around 300 people gathered in Manchester on Saturday and clashed with police, throwing bottles, bricks and other missiles.

A dispersal notice was authorised inthe centre in order to assist police in dealing with protests.

The section 34 notice gave officers powers to seize any item used in the commission of anti-social behaviour until 7pm on Saturday.

Chief Inspector Natasha Evans said: ‘People have a legal right to participate in peaceful protest, however where people are intent on breaking the law, we will take action.’

Sunderland

Eight people have been arrested and three police officers taken to hospital followingrioting in Sunderland city centre.

It comes afterrioters battled police following a planned protest linked to the Southport knife attack.

A police station was looted and a Citizens Advice Bureau office was set alight by rioters.

A priest at Sunderland Minster said yobs tried to smash a gravestone to use as missiles during widespread violence in the city, adding that they were guilty of ‘an act of sacrilege’.

Sunderland Central Labour MP Lewis Atkinson said a link could be drawn between the disorder in his constituency on Friday and the ashes of the English Defence League (EDL), which was founded by Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon.

The EDL has disbanded but its supporters remain active, and Mr Atkinson said evidence suggested a Nazi offshoot of the group was involved in the violence in his constituency on Friday, in which a police station was torched and a mosque attacked.

Liverpool

Police had to keep crowds of opposing protesters apart outside a mosque in Liverpool.

A barrier was set up between them near the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque on the city’s Brougham Terrace on Friday evening.

Merseyside Police said extra officers were being deployed over the weekend, with extra stop-and-search powers in place in both Southport and Liverpool ahead of possible demos.

Hartlepool

An 11-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of arson after a police car was torched during disorder in Hartlepool on Wednesday.

Another boy, aged 13, was among the 16 people held on suspicion of various offences linked to violent scenes there.

Footage circulated on social media showed a young person being punched in the face in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack by so-called protesters.

Officers are urging the man and the victim, or anyone who may know them, to contact the force.

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