Far-right protesters set fire to police van outside Merseyside hotel housing asylum seekers – video

Disturbances have broken out outside a hotel in the Knowsley area of Liverpool after a demonstration several hundred strong was staged to protest about the presence of asylum seekers who have been given refuge in a hotel there by the Home Office. There were reports that the protest was organised by the far-right Patriotic Alternative but the group denied this in social media posts. Eyewitnesses said that the protest turned violent when far-right supporters set a police van and some equipment from the van on fire. 

  This caption was amended on 12 February 2023. An earlier version said the demonstration had been staged by Patriotic Alternative; the caption has been clarified to note that, while there had been reports that the protest was organised by the group, it denied this in social media posts.