Police station set on fire in Sunderland as UK unrest rolls on

A police station was set on fire in Sunderland on Friday as officers tried to contain several hundred protesters on another night of disorder.

Video footage on social media showed flames coming from Sunderland city centre police station.

Nick Lowles, from the organisation Hope Not Hate, posted a photo of the blaze on X and wrote: “A police station has been set alight in Sunderland tonight. A far right and racist protest has culminated in this. Shame on all those who continue to excuse these protests.”

The crowd, some of whom wore balaclavas, also threw beer barrels and stones at police who came under a sustained attack outside a mosque on St Mark’s Road.

An overturned car was set on fire and rioters set off fire extinguishers against officers. Northumbria police advised members of the public to avoid Sunderland city centre due to the “ongoing disorder”.

The protest, promoted by far-right activists on social media, began at the newly refurbished Keel Square. Social media footage showed young men throwing stones at the police and shouting “whose streets, our streets” as well as Islamophobic chants.

The protest was among several planned across the UK this weekend after the knife attack in Southport on Monday, fuelled by misinformation on social media about the background and religion of the 17-year-old suspect.

Extra prosecutors have been called in to work this weekend as police forces around the country brace for further disorder.

Stephen Parkinson, director of public prosecutions, said: “We take the recent incidents of violent disorder extremely seriously and we are ready to respond rapidly if there is a fresh outbreak.

“We have deployed dozens of extra prosecutors who are working round the clock this weekend, supporting the police, and ready to make immediate charging decisions so that justice is swiftly delivered.”

North East mayor Kim McGuinness wrote on X: “I’m appalled by the scenes from Sunderland. Make no mistake, if your response to tragedy is to use it to commit violence, to abuse others, attack the police and damage property you stand for nothing except thuggery. It’s not protest.

“It’s crime and disorder. You don’t speak for Sunderland. You don’t speak for this region. Those grieving in Southport will take no comfort from this.

“We believe that the community here in Southport, and the country as a whole, must now come together to challenge hatred based on people’s identities. In particular, the rising levels of Islamophobia must not be allowed to fester in our society.”

Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson said he was “appalled” by disorder in the city centre.

He wrote on X: “Our city is not represented by a tiny minority causing trouble.

“(Northumbria police) have my full support as they respond to criminal thuggery and work to protect all the communities of our city.

“Tomorrow the people of Sunderland will come together and continue to build the bright future that we have – a future where every community of our city feels safe and prospers.”

A crowd of about 200 anti-racist protesters gathered outside the Abdullah Quilliam society mosque in Liverpool on Friday evening after rumours of a far-right protest there. Later a small scuffle broke out between the groups.

In Liverpool, the far right were outnumbered several fold by anti-fascist groups. Minor scuffles early in the evening were quickly stopped by police and by 9pm only a handful of far-right protesters remained, standing under trees across the road from Abdullah Quilliam society mosque trying not to get rained on.

A group of men standing opposite the anti-fascists did not quite have the confidence to admit they were far right, telling the Guardian they had only “come for a look”, with balaclavas on.