'We are hardworking people – we're not far-right'

Hundreds congregated in Queen Victoria Square, Hull, for an anti-immigration protest on Saturday

A man who attended an anti-immigration protest in Hull on Saturday said the disorder that followed had nothing to do with those at the event.

The unrest followed the event held in Queen Victoria Square on a day that saw several protests across the country descend into violence.

Looting took place as shops were broken into and one was set on fire, while the windows of a hotel were smashed when bottles and bricks were thrown.

David Sensier, 58, described the earlier protest as a "peaceful vigil" in memory of the children killed in the Southport attack.

Fires were started during the violence

Crowds of rival protesters gathered in the city on Saturday afternoon, with anti-immigration protesters shouting "You're not British any more" and anti-racism campaigners reacting with shouts of "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here".

The far-right has been widely condemned as the organising force behind the unrest in a number of towns and cities across the country after false claims spread online that the suspect in the Southport attack was an asylum seeker who had travelled to the UK by boat.

However, Mr Sensier said the event in Hull had passed off peacefully, with people placing teddy bears in memory of the victims of the Southport attack.

"All those people who were there on Saturday are not far-right – we just want people to get on together," he said.

"I'm telling Hull and I'm telling Great Britain that [the disorder] had nothing to do with them.

"None of us are far-right – we are all good, hardworking people."

David Sensier said the event in Queen Victoria Square had passed off peacefully

As the disorder spread, a hotel in Ferensway – believed to have been housing asylum seekers – was attacked. Officers had eggs and bottles thrown at them and vehicles were set on fire.

A BBC reporter witnessed looting, damage to shops – including O2, Greggs and Shoezone, with the latter set alight – and fires started in the street

Mr Sensier, a lifelong resident of Hull, said the chaotic scenes "were not in any way" linked to the protest, adding that there was no excuse for violence.

"The people who were putting the windows in wouldn't even know what left wing or right wing meant," he said.

"They wouldn't understand it."

Jonathan Evison, Humberside's police and crime commissioner, said the "violent behaviour, thuggery and opportunism came on the back of what has loosely been called a protest".

"It wasn't a protest – it was an attack on the centre of the city of Hull by people who are not interested in politics," he added.

On Sunday, Humberside Police said 25 people had been arrested in connection with the disorder.

A 25-year-old man has since appeared in court charged with violent disorder, three counts of robbery, two counts of burglary and criminal damage in connection with the disorder.