Arrests made and officers injured in Weymouth demos

Police officers from around the south west managed Sunday's demonstrations

Three men were arrested and two police officers injured in clashes after about 600 protesters gathered on a Dorset seafront.

Some 200 Stand Up to Racism demonstrators were on a different part of the Weymouth Esplanade than a larger group of about 400 anti-immigration protesters on Sunday.

Dorset Police’s assistant chief constable Mark Callaghan said two men from Somerset and a man from Weymouth were arrested after officers from around the country managed the groups.

Mr Callaghan said he was “disappointed” that an officer was hit in the face by a bottle and another was punched in the face.

Officers “will be reviewing evidence to bring the offenders to justice," he added.

There had been "rumours circulating" that asylum seekers currently living on the Bibby Stockholm would move to Portland, Weymouth or the wider Dorset Council area.

Police from Dorset and the neighbouring counties of Devon and Cornwall were managing the groups

But the Home Office has confirmed this will not be the case, Mr Callaghan said.

No asylum seekers are currently living in hotels in Weymouth.

“Our approach to this operation was to enable peaceful protests, but if people were intent on committing public order or criminal offences, they would be dealt with robustly as such behaviours would not be tolerated and this is the style of policing that we have delivered and what our communities expect," Mr Callaghan said.

South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton thanked the police for doing an "excellent job" during a "complex operation".

"There was a small number of arrests and a small number of injuries, but [the demonstrations] were largely peaceful, which was in stark contrast to the horrific scenes that we have seen elsewhere across the country," he added.

Dorset's police and crime commissioner David Sidwick also praised police officers' "tenacity and fortitude" in forming a human barrier between opposing sides.

He said: “I note that the majority of people who attended the demonstrations behaved within the law and I would like to thank them for that. The police will continue to protect people’s lawful right to protest.

"To have any officer injured in the lawful execution of their duty is wholly unacceptable and I hope that the full force of the law is brought to bear on the perpetrators."

A 42-year-old man from Yeovil was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, and a 62-year-old man from the same town was arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

A 27-year-old man from Weymouth was arrested for assault.

Officers from Dorset, along with others from Devon and Cornwall, Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, were deployed.