A total of 11 people have been arrested during protests in Liverpool city centre.
Several hundred descended on St George’s Plateau on Saturday in a UKIP demonstration against unprocessed asylum seekers being housed in hotels
The group planned to march towards Liverpool Women’s Hospital, in close proximity to the African Caribbean Centre, but could not move beyond Lime Street.
A counter-protest by Stand Up to Racism opposed the gathering, which was contained by police as part of additional powers to disrupt suspected criminality.
Merseyside Police confirmed 11 people were detained during the demonstrations for offences ranging from being drunk and disorderly to assault and affray.
Superintendent Karl Baldwin said: “There was a large policing presence in Liverpool city centre today to ensure the safety of those taking part in the protest and counter-protest as well as the wider public.
“We will never tolerate acts of criminality or anti-social behaviour and despite the vast majority of people protesting lawfully, and peacefully, sadly there were a number of people who were arrested for various offences, including public order offences and assault.
“A decision was made shortly after the march got underway to apply conditions under Section 12 of the Public Order Act, which redirected the march back to St George’s Hall.
“This decision wasn’t taken lightly and was made because there was evidence of serious disruption to the community, which is one of the limited reasons such conditions can be applied.
“The police are often faced with the challenge of treading the fine line between upholding everyone’s rights to protest equitably, whilst endeavouring to keep the peace and ensure the public are safe.
“We plan ahead, in a co-ordinated way, to ensure we do this consistently, fairly and proportionately.
“We would like to thank members of the public and businesses in the city centre for their patience during the course of this event.”