Watch: Police protect four men as crowd of counter-protesters surround them

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Police officers protected four demonstrators at a Brighton rally surrounded by a huge crowd of counter-protesters chanting “fascist scum off our streets”.

Footage has emerged of officers standing in a protective ring around the four men, as thousands of counter-demonstrators amassed in the seaside town on Wednesday amid rumours of a far-Right rally which failed to materialise.

One of the protected men appeared to be slapped in the face during the disorder at about 7pm.

A video from a different angle showed another group of officers forming a second perimeter several metres away to keep the groups apart.

A counter-protester can be heard in the footage asking the officers “why are you not ejecting them?”

Later in the evening, several men were escorted by officers through the crowd and into police vans to take them to safety, a video posted just before 10pm showed.

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Counter-protesters, some of them waving Palestine flags, applauded and cheered as they were driven away.

Across the country on Wednesday, MPs were advised to work from home, GP surgeries closed and shops were boarded up as Britain braced for more than 100 far-Right rallies.

Almost 4,000 specially trained public order officers were deployed on the streets and 2,000 were placed on standby after warnings of disorder in towns and cities from Carlisle to Plymouth.

Police sources said intelligence suggested there were more than 100 far-Right gatherings planned and another 30 counter-protests expected across 41 of the 43 force areas in England and Wales.

However, widespread far-Right rallies failed to materialise and demonstrators were outnumbered by crowds of counter-protesters, including Muslim groups and anti-fascist activists, in parts of London, Birmingham and Brighton.

The Prime Minister will hold another emergency Cobra meeting with police chiefs as officers brace for more potential unrest on the streets.

Sir Keir Starmer is due to host the third high-level summit of its kind since violence broke out last week, after anticipation of more disorder largely failed to materialise on Wednesday.

It comes as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) warned 20 potential gatherings and three counter-protests were believed to have been planned for Thursday evening.

‘Very focused on the weekend’

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, the NPCC chairman, told reporters those “intent on violence and destruction have not gone away” as he said police were “very focused on the weekend”.

He suggested police patrols could be stepped up at lower league matches at the start of the football season amid concerns there could be flare-ups at forthcoming fixtures.

While perpetrators had been deterred and “received a message from communities”, there are “many potential events still being advertised and circulated online”, he said.

“There’s no complacency at all in our mind that we need to be prepared for the days and particularly the weekend ahead. So the policing posture remains the same.”

Some rioters have already been jailed for up to three years, as other suspects continue to face court over disorder across the country.